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LIFE 


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JEAN   PAUL   FREDERIC   RICHTER. 


LIFE 


OF 


JEAN    PAUL    FREDERIC    RICHTER. 


COMPILED  FROM  VARIOUS  SOURCES. 


TOGETHER    WITH    HIS 


AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 


TRANSLATED  FROM  THE  GERMAx^. 


"  I  would  gladly,  after  ray  death,  have  that  which  has  never  yet  hufj- 
pened  to  any  author,  all  my  thoughts  given  to  the  world  — not  one  should 
be  concealed."  Jean  Paul. 


VOL.   II. 


BOSTON : 

CHARLES  C.  LITTLE  AND  JAMES  BROWN. 


MDCCCXLII. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1842,  by 
Charles  C.  Little  and  James  Beown, 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  District  of  Massachusetts. 


BOSTON : 

PRINTED   BY    FKEEMAN    AND    BOLLES, 
WASHINGTON    STREET. 


CONTENTS 


VOLUME   II. 


PART    THIRD. 

FROM  JEAN  Paul's  first  visit  in  weimar  to  his  final  resi- 
dence IN  BAYREUTH. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Page 
Prince  Hohenlohe.  —  Madam  von  Krudener. —  Letters. 

—  "  Jubelsenior." — <' Kampaner  Thai,"      ...  1 

CHAPTER  II. 

Richter  visits  the  Frauzenbath  in  Eger.  —  Death  of  his 
Mother.  —  Emihe  von  Berlespsh.  —  Removal  from  Hof 
to  Leipzig, 13 

CHAPTER   HI. 

Residence  in  Leipzig.  —  Letters.  — Emelie  von  Berlespsh. 

—  Visits  Dresden, 25 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Richter    returns    to    Weimar.  —  Wieland.  —  Goethe.  — 


VI  CONTENTS. 

Herder.  —  His  attachment  to   Jean   Paul.  —  Philoso- 
phy.—  Madam  von  Kalb, 42 

CHAPTER   V. 

Richter  visits  the  Court  of  Hildburghausen.  —  Mademoi- 
selle von  F.  —  The  four  Sister  Princesses.  —  Dedica- 
tion of  Titan. —  Visits  Berlin, Gl 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Richter  removes  to  Berlin.  —  Introduction  to   Caroline 

Meyer.  —  The  Meyer  Family.  —  The  "  Verlobung,"  76 

CHAPTER  VH. 

Richter's  Petition  to  the  King  of  Prussia.  —  Marriage.  — 

Caroline's  Letters  from  Weimar,  ....         95 

CHAPTER   VHI. 
Residence  in  Meiningen.  —  Letters.  —  Birth  of  Richter's 
first  Child.  —  Dog's  Petition, ]05 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Titan, 116 

CHAPTER  X. 

Richter  leaves  Meiningen.  —  Removes  to  Coburg.  —  Birth 
of  his  Son.  —  Death  of  Herder.  —  "  Flegelyahre."  — 
Bayreuth, 130 

PART    FOURTH. 

FROM  JEAN  Paul's  residence  in  bayreuth  to  his  death. 

CHAPTER  I. 

Richter  removes  to  Bayreuth.  —  Social  Position.  —  Per- 
sonal appearance  and  habits.  —  Family.  —  Letter  from 
his  eldest  Daughter, 143 


CONTENTS.  Vll 

CHAPTER   II. 

"Introduction  to  ^Esthetics."  —  ''Freedom  Pamphlet." 
—  "  Levana."  —  Richter's  View  of  Napoleon,  —  Comic 
Works.  —  Letter  to  General  Bernadotte,       .         .        ,       156 

CHAPTER  III. 

Pecuniary  embarrassments.  —  Prince  Dalberg.  —  Paul  re- 
ceives a  small  Pension.  —  Extract  from  Varnhagen  von 
Ense's  Memoirs,  174 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Domestic  Letters.  —  Journey  to  Erlangen.  —  Journey  to 

Nurnberg. — Jacobi, 187 

CHAPTER  V. 

Richter  in  relation  with  the  unhappy.  —  Letters.  —  Maria 

Forster, 204 

CHAPTER   VI. 

Richter's  love  of  travelling.  —  Visits  Prince  Dalberg.  — 
Visits  Heidelberg.  —  Receives  his  Doctor's  diploma.  — 
Henry  Voss.  —  Animal  Magnetism,      ....       228 

CHAPTER   VII. 
Richter  Visits  Munchen.  —  His  son  Max.  —  His  melan- 
choly and  death, 245 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Richter  visits  Dresden.  —  The  impression  he  made  upon 
his  relatives, •         .         .      257 

CHAPTER   IX. 

The  purely  Comic  Works  of  Jean  Paul.  —  The  Life  of 
Fibel.  —  Nicholas  Margraf,  or  the  Comet,     .         .         .       267 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   X. 

Richler  visits  Nurnburg  on  account  of  his  eyes.  —  Kanne. 

—  His  blindness.  —  Last  Letters.  —  "  Selina."  .  279 

Conclusion, 304 

Appendix, 325 


PART  THIRD, 


LIFE    OF  JEAN    PAUL 


CHAPTER  I. 

PRINCE    HOHENLOHE. MADAM    VON    KRUDENER. 

LETTERS. "  JUBELSENIOR." "  KAMPANER  THAL." 

I  HAVE  omitted,  for  the  purpose  of  con-  ^  ^  ^^^ 
eluding  the  account  of  Richter's  intimate  ^^^^  ^' 
friendship  with  Madam  von  Kalb,  two  events  that 
took  place  in  the  autumn,  immediately  after  his 
return  from  Weimar.  His  wide-spread  reputation 
brought  him  many  proposals  to  become  the  in- 
structer  of  young  persons  ;  among  others  the  Prin- 
cess of  Hohenlohe  came  to  Hof,  and  entreated  him 
to  take  charge  of  her  two  sons.  The  eldest  of 
these  princes  was  afterwards  the  celebrated  Jesuit 
priest,  and  worker  of  miracles.  The  delusion  last- 
ed a  long  time,  but  ceased  before  the  death  of  the 


)i  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

prince.  His  fine  exterior,  gentle  manners,  and  in- 
sinuating voice,  no  doubt  made  part  of  the  mira- 
cle. This  was  an  alluring  offer,  as  it  promised 
Richter  independence,  and  a  beautiful  residence 
on  the  Rhine.  He  answered,  "  that  he  was  hence- 
forth determined  to  educate  no  children  but  his 
own  (his  books),  and  that  he  had  so  much  to  say, 
that  if  death  should  surprise  him  at  his  writing- 
table,  in  his  eightieth  year,  it  would  be  yet  too 
early." 

The  other  event,  that  made  a  deeper  impression 
upon  the  imaginative  mind  of  Richter,  was  a  visit 
from  the  celebrated  enthusiast,  Julia  von  Krudener, 
the  wife  of  the  Russian  ambassador  in  Denmark. 
This  singular  woman  had  been  to  Leipzig,  to  visit 
her  son,  and  came  in  the  full  bloom  of  her  remark- 
able beauty,  to  his  solitary  residence,  as  she  said, 
to  seek  a  comet  on  its  path.  Upon  Richter,  whose 
soul  was  always  thirsting  for  the  spiritual  and  ideal 
in  woman,  she  made  an  indelible  impression,  and 
excited  an  interest  that  led  to  a  correspondence  of 
many  years'  duration.  They  were  only  an  hour 
together,  but  the  interest  was  mutual.  There 
must  have  been  something  in  Richter's  person  and 
manners  extremely  fascinating  to  women  ;  for  the 
impression  his  works  had  made  on  the  imagina- 
tion, was  always  deepened   by  an   interview  ;  and 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  d 

there  was  some  reason  why  Madam  von  Kalb 
should  tell  him  "  not  to  smile,  and  that  the  tone 
that  his  mind  gave  without  words  was  sweeter 
than  the  sounds  of  the  harmonica." 

Paul  said,  in  a  letter  to  Otto,  ''  that,  unlike  as 
Madam  Krudener  was  to  all  other  women,  so  was 
the  impression  she  had  made  upon  him  different 
from  that  of  all  other  women." 

He  wrote  to  her,  "  The  hour  in  which  I  saw 
you  floats  like  the  evening  glow  still  lower  beneath 
the  horizon.  Your  letter  must  again  color  my 
atmosphere.  You  came  like  a  dream,  and  fled 
like  a  dream,  and  I  still  live  in  a  dream.  .  .  . 

"  A  legend  says,  that  the  angels  had  created 
men  like  gods,  but  that  they  could  not  stand  up- 
right until  God,  by  a  spark,  gave  them  souls,  and 
raised  them  to  the  upright  posture.  Most  of  us 
are  still  such  prostrate  men  ;  but  in  your  soul 
glows  this  sun-spark,  and  you  stand  among  the 
cold  reclining  forms,  with  your  glance  still  turned 
to  heaven." 

Madam  von  Krudener  answered  :  "  Ineffacea- 
ble is  the  hour  when  your  eye,  the  sound  of  your 
voice,  the  indescribable  whole  of  your  emotion  in 
expression  and  accent,  established  the  sweetest 
harmony  of  knowledge  and  feeling.  I  know  not 
whether  I  make  myself  intelligible,  as  you  know 


4  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

how  imperfectly  I  possess  your  language.  You 
will  imagine  what  I  think,  for  I  feel  with  indescrib- 
able joy  that  you  wholly  understand  me,  and  the 
Httle  that  you  said  to  me  was  penetrating  like 
your  glance,  and  led  directly  to  my  inmost  heart. 
Oh,  how  few  men  can  understand  me,  and  how 
sweet  is  the  hope  to  see  you  here,  and  to  open 
this  heart  to  you,  to  show  you,  without  pride  and 
without  fear,  the  virtues  as  well  as  the  faults  of 
my  nature.  This  need  of  learning  the  truth,  this 
living  necessity  in  me  to  grow  better,  this  thirst 
after  knowledge,  and  this  warm  desire  to  promote 
the  happiness  of  men ;  this  expanding  love  that 
glows  in  my  heart  and  breathes  in  your  works,  are 
what  makes  them  so  dear  to  me,  and  convince  me, 
that  through  your  friendship  I  shall  be  better  and 
happier  ;  and  that  to  you  also,  the  observation  of  a 
noble  soul,  that  would  fain  impart  blessings  to 
mankind,  will  not  be  indifferent. 

"  I  say  to  you,  that  I  am  never  deceived  in  men 
in  whom  I  can  kindle  a  spark  of  emotion  ;  by 
men  of  low  dispositions  I  am  often  offended ;  yet 
who  remembers  the  sting  when  a  gnat  falls  upon 
him.  Such  stings  take  away  the  injurious  blood, 
that  inflames  so  easily  at  the  smallest  wound,  and 
from  which  ill-humor  and  misanthropy  are  formed. 
I  have  climbed  that  mountain  that  little  minds  have 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  O 

not  the  power  to  ascend,  and  the  echo  of  their 
voices  brings  no  disharmony  to  my  ears. 

^^  Without  pride,  I  may  say  this  to  you.  Ah  !  I 
cannot  be  proud  —  too  much  remains  yet  to  be 
improved  before  I  can  be  satisfied.  Gratefully  I 
acknowledge  the  happiness,  that  God  has  given 
me  a  heart  in  which  only  the  memory  of  the  good 
and  beautiful  can  live  ;  and  that  has  so  lived  in  the 
higher  regions  of  virtue  and  friendship,  that  the 
possibility  of  breathing  in  a  lower  world  cannot 
exist.  The  hand  of  genius  seized  my  thoughts 
even  in  their  cradle,  and  thus  I  know  you  can  un- 
derstand me  even  in  my  imperfect  language.'  .  .  . 

''  I  thank  Providence  that  I  have  learnt  to  know 
you.  He  gives  me,  in  you,  a  new  and  powerful 
assurance  of  my  future  happiness,  and  in  your 
tears  is  a  world  for  me.  May  you  be  as  happy 
as  I  wish  you,  and  may  the  precious  emotions  you 
have  given  me  conduce  to  your  own  happiness. 
Remember,  meanwhile,   I   can  never  forget  you. 

"JULIA.  VON  KRUDENER." 

Richter  entreated  the  lady  to  visit  him  again  in 
Hof,  "  that  the  little  blessed  island  she  had  thrown 
into  the  humble  stream  of  his  life  might  not  float 
away  ;"  but  she  did  not  return,  and  he  met  her 

*  French  was  the  native  tonorue  of  Madam  von  Krudener. 


6 


LIFE   OF   JEAN   PAUL. 


not  again  until  after  his  marriage,  many  years 
afterwards,  in  Berlin. 

Madam  von  Krudener  did  not  make  a  favorable 
impression  upon  Richter's  friends.  They  accused 
her  of  vanity  and  ostentation.  From  the  course 
of  her  life  it  could  scarcely  be  otherwise  ;  Jean 
Paul  was  not  blind  to  the  faults  of  any  one,  but 
his  true  sympathy  with  all  the  weaknesses  of  hu- 
manity led  him  always  to  place  the  good  and  bad 
qualities  in  opposite  scales  ;  and  he  said  of  her, 
what  might  be  said  of  many  ostentatious  women, 
"  that  it  was  not  vanity  that  made  her  an  artist, 
but  the  enjoyment  of  the  representation." 

From  the  subsequent  life  of  Madam  von  Krude- 
ner, it  will  appear  that  Richter  was  not  so  pene- 
trating as  his  friends  in  the  estimation  of  her 
character.' 

Richter's  spirits,  after  denying  himself  a  return 
to  the  Weimar  Eden,  and  further  intimacy  with 
Madam  von  Kalb,  were  too  much  depressed  to 
allow  him  to  proceed  with  his  Titan.  He  oc- 
cupied himself  this  winter  with  two  of  his  minor 
works,  Jubelsenior  and  the  Kampaner  Thai.  During 
the  progress  of  his  great  work,  upon  which  he 
rested  his  hopes  of  immortality,  he  kept  himself 

^  See  note  at  the  end  of  the  chapter. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  i 

constantly  before  the  public,  and  procured  the 
means  of  subsistence,  by  a  series  of  smaller  works. 
Like  a  celebrated  painter,  he  worked  up  the  super- 
abundance of  colors  upon  his  palette  into  smaller 
pictures,  while  his  immortal  work  was  yet  on  the 
easel. 

These  works  differ  from  his  earlier  in  this,  that 
they  never  contain  a  complete  picture  of  character, 
neither  is  any  elevated  philosophical,  nor  poetical 
idea  in  life  or  character  completely  carried  out. 
They  are  merely  segments  of  life,  and  make  no 
pretension  to  a  full  delineation  of  passion  or  event. 
In  his  earlier  romances,  almost  all  the  characters 
had  been  left  incomplete  ;  the  reader  is  therefore 
rejoiced  to  find  the  author  taking  them  up  again, 
and  introducing  them  anew  to  his  acquaintance  in 
these  segments.  Balzac,  who  in  every  thing  else 
differs  more  widely  than  the  antipodes  from  Jean 
Paul,  has  in  this  respect,  the  same  peculiarity. 

The  Juhelsenior  is  the  beautiful  and  simple  re- 
presentation of  an  aged  minister,  and  his  equally 
aged  wife,  celebrating  the  anniversary  of  their 
marriage  festival,  at  the  same  time  with  the  con- 
secration of  the  church,^  and  the  introduction  of  a 
new  young  pastor,  who  is  in  love  with  the  adopted 

^  A  church  consecration  is  one  of  the  principal  country  cele- 
brations in  Germany. 


8 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


child  of  the  old  people.  "  The  aged  pair,  bowing 
under  the  gate  of  death  that  leads  them  to  another 
world,  will  not  withdraw  their  hands  from  each 
other,  but  keep  them  constantly  clasped  over  the 
cold  grave  stone."  "  They  celebrate  the  sixtieth 
anniversary  of  their  marriage  festival,  with  the  re- 
warmed  fragments  of  their  own  young  bride-cake." 

Jean  Paul  partook  deeply  of  the  religious  nature 
of  the  Germans ;  he  delighted  in  all  these  humble, 
simple  religious  ceremonies ;  and  he  awoke  the 
gratitude  of  many  an  old  man  and  many  an  aged 
matron,  with  his  intimate  sympathy  with  their  well 
remembered  feelings,  and  the  high  esteem  he  ever 
paid  to  the  silent  men,  that  the  loud  young  century 
had  forgotten.  The  love  of  the  young  people  is 
also  mingled  in  the  history,  and  makes  a  low, 
under,  but  sweet  tone  in  the  piece. 

The  Kampaner  Thai,  or  proofs  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  is  one  of  the  most  purely  serious,  and 
poetically  beautiful  of  all  the  author's  minor  works. 
It  was  suggested  by  his  friend  Charlotte  von  Kalb's 
saying,  that  she  sometimes  felt  doubts  overshadow- 
ing her  mind  when  she  thought  of  annihilation; 
and  as  he  had  written  the  former  letter  on  immor- 
tality for  Helena's,  he  wrote  this  for  her  consolation. 

In  his  intercourse  with  educated  women,  Richter 
had  found  that  in  proportion  as  they  were  refined 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  \f 

and  thoughtful,  they  were  pained  with  doubt  upon 
this  gieat  consolation  of  humanity  —  a  future  exist- 
ence of  the  soul.  He  somewhere  says,  "  that  he 
never  heard  a  cultivated  woman  speak  of  meeting 
again  with  her  lost  friends,  without  detecting  at 
the  same  time  an  almost  imperceptible  sigh  of 
doubt."  ' 

He  did  not  write  to  convert  the  infidel,  but  to 
establish  the  wavering  faith  of  the  doubtful :  "  As 
the  plants  that  grow  upon  the  margin  of  a  stream 
are  as  much  refreshed  by  a  summer  shower,  as 
those  whose  roots  are  planted  in  the  dusty  high 
way  of  life."' 

I  feel  that  no  justice  could  be  done  to  this  beau- 
tiful work  by  such  an  analysis  as  I  could  give,  and 
that  even  my  highest  praise  would  be  inadequate 
to  express  its  merits.^ 

This  chapter  cannot  be  more  appropriately 
closed  than  with  a  letter  from  Caroline  Herder,  in 
which  she  has  singularly  anticipated  the  definition 
of  the  Romantic,  which  was  afterwards  given  in 
the  Foreign  (Quarterly  Review.  It  is  written  after 
receiving  the  Kampaner  Thai  from  the  author. 

"  I  require  indeed  the  pen  of  an  angel  to  relate 
the    thousandfold    obstacles   that  have  prevented 

'   I  quote  from  memory,  not  having  the  book  at  hand. 
2  See  Appendix  No.  I. 


10  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

me,  dear,  unforgotten  friend,  from  writing  to  you. 
I  dare  not  give  you  circumstantially  the  Litany  of 
my  own  little  miseries,  that  united  make  the  great 
cause  of  my  silence.  My  eyes  suffer,  and  since 
some  years  my  health  also,  so  that  I  have  to  pre- 
scribe for  myself  a  severe  diet  in  writing.  I  rely 
so  securely  upon  our  union  in  the  world  of  spirits, 
I  am  so  certain  that  you  think  of  us,  and  speak  to 
us,  as  we  to  you,  without  visible  signs  ;  yet  visible 
signs  of  the  sacrament  of  love  are  beautiful,  as  I 
felt  deeply  when  I  received  your  dear  letter  with 
the  Kampaner  Thai, 

"  Ah,  we  owe  you  thanks  for  Hesperus  also.  If 
my  husband  were  not  so  slavishly  chained,  you 
had  heard  from  him  before  this,  upon  Hesperus. 
The  whole  building  is,  as  it  were,  filled  with  choice 
sacred  pictures,  and  we  linger  to  strengthen,  ele- 
vate and  delight  the  spirit.  We  might  seize  the 
whole  at  once,  but  we  are  unwilling  under  a  thou- 
sand emotions  not  to  dwell  upon  each,  and  the 
richness  of  ornament  distracts  our  attention. 

^'  If  you  have  ever  seen  the  Minster  at  Stras- 
burg,^   you   will  understand  me,  and  not  misinter- 

*  "  He  who  casts  one  eye  in  thought  on  the  Strasburg  Min- 
ster, and  another  on  the  Temples  at  PcEstum,  will  understand 
the  difference  between  the  romantic  and  classical." 

Foreign  Quarterly  Review,  July  1837. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  H 

pret  this  comparison.  Perhaps  the  soul  of  that 
great  architect  has  returned,  with  you,  to  earth ; 
and,  as  at  this  time  pictures  in  stone  are  not  so 
essential  to  us  as  spiritual  representations,  he 
builds  with  other  materials  than  stone  and  marble, 
but  in  the  taste  of  that  time. 

''  We  look  for   Titan  with    the   utmost  impa- 
tience." 

NOTE. 

The  Baroness  Krudener  was  educated  in  Paris,  where  her 
father's  house  was  the  resort  of  men  of  talents,  and  her  beauty 
and  wit  were  much  admired  In  her  fourteenth  year  she  was 
married  to  Baron  Krudener,  who  was  more  than  double  her  age, 
and  accompanied  him  to  Russia,  where  he  was  sent  as  ambassa- 
dor. Madam  Krudener,  placed  in  the  first  circles,  and  remark- 
able for  wit  and  beauty,  was  surrounded  by  admirers  ;  but  she 
was  not  happy.  Her  liveliness  of  temperament  led  her  into 
levities,  which  caused  a  divorce  from  her  husband,  and  she  re- 
turned to  her  father's  house,  in  Riga.  Riga  did  not  satisfy  her. 
She  removed  to  Paris,  and  lived  alternately  at  Paris  and  Peters- 
burg. She  was  afterwards  attached  to  the  court  of  the  beauti- 
ful Queen  of  Prussia;  and,  sharing  her  misfortunes,  her  mind 
turned  from  the  pleasures  of  the  world  to  the  subject  of  religion. 
She  was  now  attracted  by  the  principles  of  the  Moravians,  and 
again  went  to  Paris,  where  she  found  many  disciples  —  a  fact 
easily  explained.  The  higher  circles  in  Paris  contain  many 
persons  accustomed,  from  early  youth,  to  live  on  excitement ; 
who,  when  age,  or  any  other  cause,  sickens  them  of  those  of 
fashionable  life,  fly  to  devotion,  and  kindle  again  for  God  the 
burnt-out  coal  of  other  passions.  She  was  afterwards  con- 
nected with  the  mystical  Jung  Stilling.     In  1814,  she  was  in 


12  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Paris,  much  connected  with  the  allied  sovereigns,  and  is  said  to 
have  had  great  influence  upon  the  Emperor  Alexander.  At 
this  time  she  had  prayer-meetings  attended  by  all  the  distin- 
guished persons  in  Paris ;  where  she  was  seen  in  the  back- 
ground, in  the  dress  of  a  priestess,  kneeling  in  prayer.  She 
afterwards  went  to  Geneva  and  Bale,  everywhere  followed  by 
women,  poor  people,  and  vagabonds ;  sometimes  preaching  in 
the  open  air  to  three  thousand  persons.  She  distributed  liber- 
ally to  the  poor  ;  but  excited  so  much  sedition,  that  she  was 
placed  under  the  surveillance  of  the  police,  and  at  length  sent  to 
Russia,  with  orders  not  to  pass  the  frontier.  She  was  forbidden 
also  to  go  to  Moscow  or  Petersburg.  She  retired  to  the  Crimea, 
and  died  there  in  1824. —  Conversations  Lexicon. 


CHAPTER  11. 


RICHTER     VISITS     THE     FRAUZENBATH    IN    EGER. 

DEATH      OF      HIS      MOTHER. EMILIE     VON    BER- 

LESPSH.  REMOVAL    FROM    HOF    TO    LEIPZIG. 

In  the  month  of  June,  1797,  Richter  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
found  his  health,  from  uninterrupted  la-  ^^^^  ^' 
bor,  so  much  impaired,  that,  to  avoid  a  fit  of  hypo- 
chondria, he  fled  to  the  baths  of  Eger,  in  Saxony, 
where  were  collected  some  of  the  most  distinguish- 
ed and  brilliant  persons  of  the  country.  Here  he 
was  destined  to  meet  another  of  those  enchant- 
resses, who  drew  him  more  powerfully  than  either 
of  the  others  from  the  quiet  and  regular  flow  of  his 
studious  hours.  This  was  Emilie  von  Berlespsh, 
a  young,  beautiful,  and  rich  widow,  of  Swit- 
zerland. Paul's  fancy  was  immediately  kindled, 
and  he  was  soon  so  much  the  more  captivated,  as 


14  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

the  beautiful  and  spiritual  woman  professed  to  love 
him  more  with  the  fancy  than  the  heart,  and  thus 
seemed  to  avoid  the  rock  upon  which  poor  Madam 
von  Kalb  had  struck. 

The  health  of  Richter's  mother  had  been  grad- 
ually declining,  but  he  felt  no  immediate  alarm, 
although  her  blessing,  when  he  parted,  was  more 
fervent  and  tender  than  usual ;  but  the  fascination 
he  was  under,  detained  him  at  the  Baths,  until  he 
was  shocked  with  the  sudden  intelligence  that  she 
was  no  more.  With  bleeding  heart,  in  which  re- 
morse for  his  absence  was  mingled,  he  returned  to 
Hof. 

It  was  to  Paul  a  painfully  sweet  recollection, 
that  he  had  not  gone  from  her  without  her  bless- 
ing, and  that  when  he  saw  her  again,  she  was 
resting  peacefully.  The  hand  of  Death,  unlike 
that  of  Providence,  had  efiaced  from  her  pale 
countenance  all  the  lines  of  sorrow  and  of  years, 
and  in  death  she  looked  again  young,  and  calm, 
and  happy.  His  mother  had  been  so  bowed  down 
by  her  life-long  sorrows,  that  even  after  Paul 
had  become  the  child  of  fame,  and  she  heard  his 
praises  on  every  side,  she  wore  the  same  subdued 
and  humble  expression,  and  denied  herself  all  de- 
monstration of  joy  at   the  success  of  her  darling 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  15 

child.     She  fulfilled  literally  the  injunction  of  the 
apostle,  ''  to  rejoice  with  trembling.'^  * 

To  add  to  his  sorrow,  Paul  now  first  discovered 
the  book,  already  mentioned,  in  which  his  poor 
mother  had  kept  a  record  of  her  httle  gains  in  her 
midnight  spinning.  He  wrote  to  Otto,  as  he 
placed  the  faded  paper  next  his  heart,  ''  If  all 
other  manuscripts  are  destroyed,  yet  will  I  keep 
this,  good  mother  !  where  the  misery  of  thy  nights 
is  recorded,  and  where  in  weakness  and  pain  thy 
thread  of  life  is  drawn  out."^ 

For  many  wrecks  Paul  was  not  able  to  write  to 
his  friend  Otto,  or  to  mention  his  loss  to  any  one ; 
but  at  length  he  fled  back  to  Eger,  to  find,  in  the 
sympathy  of  his  new  female  friend,  consolation  for 
this  his  deepest  sorrow.  Notwithstanding  the  fas- 
cinating beauty  and  charming  qualities  of  the 
young  widow,  Richter  would  not  have  been  so 
completely  enthralled,  had  she  not  also  excited  his 
sympathy.     She  had  lost  her  young  husband  after 

*  The  character  oi  Lenette,  in  Siehen/cas,  has  some  of  the  Iraits 
of  Paul's  mother,  and  she  is  said  to  have  furnished  him  with 
the  original. 

'  In  a  letter  from  the  Duke  of  Mechlenburg,  this  circum- 
stance is  mentioned  as  a  touching  feature  in  the  character  of 
Pcichter.  It  shows  the  strong  affections  of  his  heart,  that  he 
should  have  been  so  tenderly  attached  to  a  character  like  that 
of  Lcnette. 


16  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

a  very  short  period  of  happy  married  life,  and  was 
left  childless.  He  wrote  to  Otto,  "  I  have  found 
the  first  female  soul  that  I  can  completely  unite 
with,  without  weariness,  without  contrariety ; 
that  can  improve  me  while  I  improve  her.  She  is 
too  noble  and  too  perfect  to  be  eulogized  with  a 
drop  of  ink.  She  belongs  to  that  class  of  women, 
who  with  firm  steps  go  straight  forward  on  their 
path,  and  do  not  turn,  or  observe  the  gazers  on  the 
right  or  left.  She  has  more  love  in  her  heart  than 
in  her  eyes,  and  therefore  she  is  not  understood, 
nor  happy  ;  and  her  clear  reason  and  brilliant 
fancy  surpass  the  glow  of  her  imagination." 

But  although  the  lady  began  with  the  most  Pla- 
tonic affection  for  Richter,  it  soon  appeared  that 
she  demanded  a  more  exclusive  devotion,  a  warmer 
expression  than  Paul,  with  all  the  claims  of  his 
imaginary  heroines,  could  give  to  one,  and  those 
violent  passions,  and  stormy  scenes  began,  that 
tormented  the  next  twelve  months  of  his  life. 
After  Paul  had  left  the  Frauzenbath,  and  returned 
to  Hof,  she  wrote  to  him. 

....  "  Follow  your  heart  when  it  speaks  for 
me,  for  notwithstanding  all  your  goodness,  all  your 
sympathy  with  me,  there  is  something  in  me  that 
will  always  doubt.  Do  not  look  upon  little  hin- 
drances and  outward   relations.     What  we  lose  at 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  17 

the  present  no  eternity  can  give  us  back.  There 
is  for  me  only  one  real,  pure  joy,  and  in  no  future 
life  can  there  be  a  higher  than  the  intimate  sym- 
pathy of  soul  with  you.  Ah,  we  have  as  yet  said 
nothing  to  each  other. 

"  Tomorrow  I  shall  go  to  Weimar,  and  there  I 
shall  find  a  letter  from  you  !  This  tells  me  why  I 
have  such  an  inexpressible  longing  to  be  there, 
where  no  joy  except  this  and  meeting  with  Her- 
der, awaits  me.  Ah,  I  pray  you  not  to  love  me  ; 
that  were  silly  ;  but  I  pray  you  to  view  justly  the 
heaven  that  you  create  in  me  !  and  if  you  can  es- 
timate it,  then  you  will  never  destroy  it.  Would 
that  I  could  write  to  you  something  more  of 
thought  than  feeling !  I  know  not  how  it  happens 
that  I,  who  am  always  nine  parts  understanding, 
and  one  miserable  tenth  part  heart,  forget,  pen  in 
hand  with  you,  all  logic  and  penetration,  and  like 
the  most  susceptible  girl,  could  discourse  of  my 
feelings  through  whole  pages,  if  the  thought  of 
your  severe  understanding  did  not  stand  in  warn- 
ing opposition  before  me." 

A  week  later  :  —  ''I  have  received  your  letter. 
The  manner  in  which  I  received  it  is  a  circum- 
stance in  the  history  of  the  letter.  But  of  that 
another  time.  Breathless  with  joy  I  seized  the 
letter  from  the   hand  of  the  bearer.     My  nerves 

VOL.    II.  2 


1-8  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

trembled  ;  for  some  moments  I  could  not  read  it. 
At  last  it  was  read.  But  now  —  I  would  I  could 
use  any  other  image — but  now  the  high-swelling 
waves  of  feeling  were  instantly  checked,  as  if  by  a 
sudden  frost.  But  wherefore  ?  That,  never  ask 
me  !  The  heaven  from  which  I  wrote  the  first 
part  of  this  letter  is  destroyed. 

"  I  have  been  some  hours  with  Herder.  We 
talked  of  the  works  of  art  in  Dresden,  and  of  you. 
Herder  said,  with  the  most  generous  expression, 
that  there  was  not  in  Germany,  (that  is,  in  the 
world,)  your  equal  in  affluence  of  mind,  and  with 
all,  so  rich,  so  pure  a  heart.  Could  one  say  more  ? 
And  yet,  when  I  talked  of  you,  they  called  me  an 
enthusiast !  Further,  social  life  in  Weimar  is  as 
if  a  wicked  enchantment  had  dissolved  everything, 
Love,  friendship,  veneration,  the  enjoyment  of  art, 
even  society  is  here  only  a  sound,  a  shadow.  A 
leaden  night  settles  on  all  heads,  all  hearts,  in  ap- 
parently equal  uniformity. 

''  Farewell !  When  you  are  a  little  good  to  me, 
if  you  would  not  make  it  utterly  impossible  for  me 
to  write  to  you  with  unreserve,  write,  but  never 
again  in  such  a  manner  to  your 

"  EMILIE." 

Richter  answered  :  "  How  could  I  take  from 
your   view  even   the    smallest   blue    spot   in    the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  19 

cloud-heaven  of  life  ?  Nothing  is  so  painful  as 
an  epistolary  misunderstanding,  when  it  must  be 
effaced  through  the  slow  post,  rather  than  with  a 
glance  of  the  eye. 

"  I  stand  already  at  the  door  of  my  literary  ca- 
bin, and  look  at  the  opening  in  the  distant  pros- 
pect. How  few  men  have  a  life  plan  —  although 
many  a  week,  year,  youth  or  business  plan.  Men 
in  their  movements  are  without  aim  ;  accident, 
necessity,  desire,  press  one  upon  them  that  they 
take  for  their  own.  Gold  pieces  and  medals  of 
honor  draw  them  down  in  life,  and  the  outward 
dies  without  the  inward  being  thought  of.  The 
folly  of  human  wishes,  indifference  to  the  integrity 
of  the  soul,  the  half  fragmentary,  half  accidentally 
formed  inward,  ideal  man,  where  one  half  is  a 
giant,  the  other  a  dwarf,  makes  one  not  only  mel- 
ancholy, but  desponding.  Upon  the  churchyard 
of  the  whole  earth  should  this  universal  epitaph  be 
placed  :  '  Here  lie  the  beings  who  in  life  knew  not 
what  they  would  have.' 

"  My  leave-taking  with  all  dear  associates  here, 
gives  me  many  wounds  to  take  with  me  to  Leip- 
zig.   May  I  there  in  your  precious  heart  find  none. 

Richter  had  at  length  decided  upon  the  remo- 
'Val  from  Hof  that  is  indicated  at  the  conclusion  of 


20  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

this  letter.  By  the  death  of  his  mother  the  last 
thread  was  broken  that  held  him  there,  and  beside 
the  whole  care  of  the  education  and  maintenance 
of  his  youngest  brother,  Samuel,  devolved  also 
upon  him.  He  was  a  youth  full  of  talent ;  Paul 
resolved  that  he  should  not  suffer,  as  he  had  him- 
self, for  the  want  of  a  helping  hand,  and  this  deter- 
mined him  to  remove  to  Leipzig,  where  his  brother 
could  at  the  same  time  enjoy  the  advantages  of 
the  university,  and  of  his  own  guardian  care. 

Richter's  residence  in  Hof  had  never  been 
favorable  to  his  genius.  He  felt  that  he  needed 
a  wider  and  more  brilliant  birthplace  for  his  Titan, 
to  which,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  demands  of 
Emilie  Berlespsh,  he  would  now  have  been  ex- 
clusively devoted.  His  wide-spread  celebrity,  and 
the  homage  he  had  received  from  all  ranks,  widened 
the  distance  between  Paul  and  his  Hofer  friends, 
and  even  Otto's  jealousy  could  not  be  concealed  at 
the  marks  of  distinction  which  he  did  not  share 
with  his  friend.  Only  a  heart  like  Paul's  could 
have  resisted  the  flattery  on  one  side  and  the  re- 
proaches on  the  other,  and  nothing  places  him  in 
a  more  amiable  light  than  his  tenderness  and  for- 
bearance under  Otto's  jealousy.  He  says,  in 
answer  to  a  letter  filled  with  fond  reproaches  : 
"  I  have  within  me  a  humility  that  no  one  has  ever 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  21 

guessed ;  it  is  not  a  victory  over  pride,  but  a 
necessity  of  my  nature.  The  judgments  of  others 
deceive  me  more  through  immoderate  censure 
than  through  immoderate  praise." 

As  soon  as  it  w^as  known  that  Richter  was  going 
to  leave  Hof,  a  voice  of  regret  and  lamentation 
broke  out  on  all  sides.  The  young  women  to 
whom  he  had  been  an  instructer  and  friend,  now 
almost  all  of  them  married,  would  fain  have  kept 
him  among  them,  to  be  the  monitor  to  their 
children  that  he  had  been  to  them.  Vogel,  and 
the  Saint  Anna,  Volkel,  and  his  old  instructer 
Werner,  now  infirm  and  aged,  all  poured  in  their 
letters  expressing  their  warm  love,  their  reverence 
for  his  noble  qualities,  and  their  deep  grief  at 
losing  one  who  seems  to  have  been  regarded  by 
those  who  enjoyed  his  intimacy  with  sentiments 
bordering  upon  idolatry. 

Richter  visited  all  his  near  friends,  and  took 
leave  of  others  by  letter.  To  Vogel  (when  he 
returned  his  books)  he  wrote  :  "  Dearest  friend, 
I  go  as  an  inhabitant,  my  brother  as  a  student  to 
Leipzig,  and  leave  for  ever  the  place  of  my  youth. 
Exactly  as  at  the  first  time,  when  I  went  a  student 
myself  to  Leipzig,  I  write  to  you  this  second  time  ; 
and  with  the  same  anxiety  with  which  we  see  the 
successive  pieces  of  the  machinery  of  life's  stage 


22  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

shoved  and  pressed  through  each  other.  To  your 
printed  treasures,  dearest  friend,  I  am  indebted  for 
the  greater  part  of  my  Library  of  Extracts,  and 
my  gratitude  for  your  love  can  never  be  lessened. 
May  Heaven  lead  in  enchanting  dreams  the  inno- 
cent world  of  your  life  before  your  eyes,  and 
shelter  you  from  the  night  air  and  the  night  frosts. 
May  you  and  yours  be  happy,  happy,  happy  !" 

Vogel  answered :  "  Infinitely,  inexpressibly, 
beloved  friend,  you  give  me  my  books  again,  and 
take  from  us  that  personal  image  in  which  you 
have  come  to  us  from  heaven.  I  weep  at  it  like  a 
child.  But  why  should  I  suffer  you  to  see  my 
emotions  reflected,  as  it  were,  in  a  glass,  when  you 
can  read  in  the  human  heart  as  in  a  book  ;  and 
yet  the  less  need  I  color  them,  for  you  are  holy 
Nature's  first  and  dearest  painter.  Let  your  spirit 
still  hover  about  us,  and  let  now  and  then  a  drop 
of  the  old  friendship  fall  into  our  cup.  Thanks, 
thanks  !  nothing  but  thanks  for  every  enjoyment 
that  from  the  sea  of  your  love  you  have  created  for 
me.  Eternal  devotion,  eternal  reverence,  eternal 
tenderness  will  be  consecrated  by  my  heart  to 
yours.  Fare  you  well,  well,  well !  thus  calls  with 
me  my  wife,  thus  call  all  my  children  after  their 
friend. 

"  P.  S.  If  I  should  see  the  Kampaner  Thai,  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  2d 

ninth  or  tenth  commandment  will  not  stand  in  my 
way.  You  have  spoilt  my  whole  reading  for  me, 
especially  the  so  called  beautiful !  I  would  that 
you  had  not  spoiled  it,  or  that  I  had  more  money 
and  fewer  books.  Send  me  often  from  Leipzig 
only  the  written  words,  Jean  Paul  Frederic  Richter, 
and  I  will  practise  magic  with  them.  Denuo  vale 
carissime  I    Carissime  vale  /  " 

We  hear  of  the  phlegmatic  Germans  !  This 
letter  was  from  a  country  pastor,  advanced  in 
years.  Let  us  recall  the  words  of  the  former  letter, 
written  just  sixteen  years  before,  when  Paul,  as  a 
poor  student,  was  setting  out  on  foot  for  Leipzig : 
"  Excellent  young  German  !  from  whom  in  the 
future  I  promise  the  world  so  much.  Fulfil  this 
prophecy  !  "  If  they  both  remembered  the  letter, 
how  well  seemed  the  prophecy  fulfilled  ! 

Richter  and  Otto,  although  living  in  the  same 
city,  had  written  to  each  other  every  day.  They 
would  not  trust  themselves  with  a  parting  inter- 
view, and  Richter's  last  letter  to  his  friend  is  most 
touchingly  tender.  It  closes  thus  :  "  My  last  word 
to  you  is,  be  courageous !  Strive  with  manly 
power  against  sickly  fantasies,  and  enter,  as  I  do, 
always  more  courageously  into  active  life,  that 
your  talents  may  be  more  useful  to  others,  and 
thus  to  yourself.   With  this  wish,  with  these  hopes, 


24  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

my  infinitely  dear  friend,  I  close  my  youth's  time, 
and  we  part  silently  from  each  other.  If  man  can 
bear  an  eternity  in  his  heart,  you  will  remain 
eternally  in  mine.  Say  this  also  to  your  dear 
brother  and  sister.  I  will  not  seek  such  a  trio  in 
the  world,  for  I  shall  not  find  you." 

After  many  other  farewell  messages,  Paul  closes 
by  recommending  to  Otto's  peculiar  kindness  a 
poor  girl,  who  had  sometimes,  in  her  illness,  served 
his  mother. 


CHAPTER  III. 


RESIDENCE  IN  LEIPZIG. LETTERS. EMILIE     VON 

BERLESPSH.  VISITS    DRESDEN. 

The  residence  in  Leipzig  was  a  great  ^  p  j^gg 
and  decided  change  in  the  hfe  of  our  ^^edo. 
Richter.  In  the  tumult  and  whirlpool  of  the  col- 
lected literature  of  the  great  bookfair  of  Germany, 
so  distinguished  and  so  original  a  writer  must  have 
become  one  of  the  central  points.  How  different 
from  his  humble  apartment  in  Hof,  where  the  only 
sounds  that  broke  upon  the  quiet  of  still  life,  were 
the  drowsy  whirring  of  his  mother's  spinning  wheel, 
and  the  unwearied  scratching  of  his  own  pen. 

On  his  arrival  in  Leipzig,  the  bookseller  Bey  gang 
received  him  into  his  house.  Richter  found  there 
treasures  of  new  books,  periodicals,  and  conven- 
iences, that  held  him  fast  with  the  enchantment  of 
novelty.     But  he  soon  went  to  his  old  lodgings  in 


26  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

the  Peterstrass,  where  he  found  higher  chambers, 
wider  windows,  a  more  ornamented  stove,  in  short, 
elegant  furniture,  where  the  "  commode  was  better 
than  any  thing  he  could  put  in  it." 

Many  families  admitted  him  to  their  most  inti- 
mate domestic  circles,  and  the  young  attached 
themselves  to  him  with  irresistible  impulse. 
Weisse,  now  an  old  man,  who  had  closed  his 
literary  career  by  writing  hymns  and  ABC  books 
for  children,  and  to  whom  every  German  child  is 
indebted  for  his  delightful  "  Child's  Friend,"  took 
Richter  into  his  family ;  and  his  table,  his  library, 
and  country  house  were  as  open  to  him  as  if  he 
had  been  his  first  born  son.  Paul  said  of  him, 
"  In  his  seventy-second  year  his  face  is  a  thanks- 
giving for  his  former  life,  and  a  love-letter  to  all 
mankind.  A  Leipziger  supper  is  always  a  guest 
repast.  Weisse's  daughter,  a  beautiful  and  ac- 
complished young  lady,  presides  at  his  ;  but  for 
some  years  I  have  been  dead  to  external  beauty, 
and  only  alive  to  what  is  living  beneath  it." 

But,  as  in  Weimar,  Richter  must  speak  for  him- 
self. Leipzig  was  the  residence  of  his  friend 
Christian  Oertel,  who  had  lately  been  married, 
and  Richter  had  not  yet  seen  his  young  wife. 
He  says,  "  Oertel  had  already  deposited  a  letter 
inviting  me  to  a  private  interview.     After  half  ar 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  27 

hour  he  opened  the  door  of  the  next  room,  and  his 
wife,  as  tall  and  slender  as  Renata,  neither  beauti- 
ful, nor  unpleasing,  but  with  love-gushing  ^  mild 
eyes,  that  steal  the  heart  away  as  by  enchantment, 
fell,  although  her  mother  and  two  sisters  were 
present,  upon  my  neck.  I  was  not  less  confused 
than  pleased.  Her  voice  is  like  her  eyes.  When 
she  sang  the  forget  me  not,  and  some  Italian  pieces, 
you  may  easily  think  where  my  ears  led  my  heart, 
and  that  the  tones,  floating  between  the  present 
and  the  past,  affected  me  too  deeply.  Wednesday 
I  was  at  the  concert  hall ;  there  were  over  a  hun- 
dred performers.  Beating  the  kettle-drum  to  a 
parchment  thunder,  organ,  female  singers;  in  short, 
I  heard  music  for  the  first  time  in  my  life.  As  the 
animals  to  Adam,  were  the  people  presented  to 
me,  of  whom  I  could  name  only  Ernhardt  and  Dr. 
Michaelis  and  their  sons.  About  eight  o'clock,  a 
man  came  to  me  without  a  hat,  with  tangled  hair, 
and  aphoristical  voice,  and  conversation  free  and 
bold.  It  was  Thieriot,  a  violinist  and  philologist, 
and  apparently  an  oddity,  as  he  took  me  for  one. 
He  begged  me  to  leave  my  lodgings,  and  come  and 
live  with  him. 

"  Kotzebue  has  visited,  and  invited  me  to  dine 

•  It  is  impossible  to  translate  liehequellenden  otherwise. 


28  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

with  his  wife.  She  appears  to  be  a  good  mother. 
Contrary  to  my  expectation  his  conversation  is 
sleepy,  spiritless,  and  like  his  eye,  without  bril- 
liancy. On  the  other  hand,  he  appears  to  be  less 
wicked,  than  timidly  weak.  Conscience  finds  in 
his  panada  heart  no  ground  firm  enough  in  which 
fo  fix  her  hook. 

'^  I  have  been  with  Platner  in  his  family,  where  I 
found  a  completely  accomplished  wife,  and  two  ex- 
tremely beautiful  daughters,  and  many  distinguish- 
ed young  people.  It  exceeds  the  power  of  my 
pen  to  give  you  a  reasonable  sketch  of  my  ac- 
quaintances. Rather  would  I  describe  for  you 
the  refined,  not  too  full,  but  costly  and  deUcious 
supper  parties.  Yet  I  save  nothing  by  them,  for 
I  must  give  the  servants  drink  money,  and  the 
maid  who  lights  you  down,  or  up,  even  in  clear 
daylight,  demands  the  offering  penny. 

"  What  I  promised  to  tell  you  of  Goethe  is  insig- 
nificant. It  was  merely  that  he  judged  favorably 
of  the  Hesperus.  Further,  he  sees  now,  that  it  is 
good  earnest  with  me  ;  but  it  gives  him  cramps  of 
the  brain  when  I  throw  myself  from  one  science 
into  another.  '  I  show  my  knowledge  too  much.' 
He  knows  a  little  also  !  but  he  delivers  only  the 
result.     '  When  I  am  elevated  above  the  earthly, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  29 

even  to  heaven,  then  comes  suddenly  a  poor  jest,' 
&.C.     In  short,  he  rues  this  side  of  my  works.  ^ 

"  I  met  a  noble  Scot,  Macdonald,  (celebrated  in 
history  and  in  Ossian)  at  a  stranger's  table,  and  at 
his  own,  and  found  in  him  the  twin  mind  of  Blair, 
whose  sermons  so  delighted  me,  and  whose  per- 
sonal friend  he  is.  No,  there  is  not  in  the  three 
kingdoms  a  nobler  or  more  manly  breast,  under 
which  beats  a  tenderer,  purer,  more  piously  poetic 
and  melancholy  spirit.  Thus  thought  a  youth 
long  since  of  the  English,  from  books,  and  thus  he 
finds  it  now.  He  reads  and  speaks  as  many  lan- 
guages as  the  freed  American  cantons,  thirteen. 
.  .  .  "  '  I  must  tell  you  of  your  faults  ! '  I  have 
already  once,  but  completely  wrong,  namely,  hint- 
ed a  little  vanity.  That  cannot  exist  in  a  mind 
that  so  readily  performs  anonymous  work,  and 
withdraws  itself  from  praise.  Every  son  of  earth 
may  dare  to  be  somewhat  vain,  it  is  only  unper- 
mitted when  he  conceals  it,  or  displays  it  too 
much.  Ah,  dear  Otto,  I  remark  from  your  letter 
that  you  are  going  back  into  your  old  errors,  and 
that,  merely,  because  I  write  to  you  chronologi- 
cally.    Written  complaints  and  explanations  are, 

'  It  must  be  confessed  there  is  much  justice  in  this  criticism 
of  Goethe's. 


30  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

on  account  of  their  longer  and  stronger  false  im- 
pressions, more  difficult  to  efface  than  verbal.  Ah, 
if  we  could  be  only  one  day  together  in  Hof,  not 
merely  a  full  amnesty,  but  a  deep  Lethe  would 
hide  the  little  precipices  where  we  have  fallen."  ' 
...  ^'  Fate  is  spinning  for  me,  for  I  hear  the 
whizzing  of  her  wheel,  a  net-work  that  will  over- 
spread my  whole  life.  The  Berlespsh  is  here. 
I  find  in  her  a  soul  that  has  not  once  fallen  be- 
neath my  ideal,  and  I  should  be  wholly  happy  in 
her  friendship,  if  she  would  not  be  too  happy  with 
me." 

The  last  extract  bids  us  return  to  Emilie  von 
Berlespsh.  A  remark  has  been  made  by  one  of 
his  biographers,  "  that  whoever  writes  the  life  of 
Jean  Paul  must  not  forget  how  much  influence 
women  exercised  upon  his  destiny."  The  reader 
must  have  already  remarked,  that  although  this 
lady  began  with  the  purest  Platonism,  she  soon 
complained  of  the  coldness  of  Richter's  letters ; 
and  that  he  never  appears  to  have  felt  other 
sentiments  for  her  than  those  of  admiration  and 
esteem. 

Immediately  after  Richter's  removal  to  Leipzig 
she  purchased  a  country  house  at  Gholis,  a  short 

*  Otto  had  again  expressed  his  distrust  of  Richter's   affection. 
See  Appendix,  No.  II. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  31 

distance  from  that  city.  When  Paul  visited  her 
he  found  a  quiet,  retired  apartment  in  the  lower 
story,  fitted  up  expressly  for  him  as  a  study,  where 
he  could  retire  if  he  wished  to  be  alone,  or  seek 
society  with  her  and  her  friends  in  her  apartnrents. 
Upon  all  occasions  he  met  a  glowing  heart,  and  a 
warm,  disinterested  friendship. 

As  a  female  author  Richter  placed  this  lady 
above  most  of  her  sex  ;  but  female  authorship  was 
more  rare  in  Germany  at  this  time,  than  even  in 
England,  and  this  lady  v^^as  distinguished  for  a 
lucidity  of  arrangement,  and  strength  of  expres- 
sion at  all  times  rare  among  female  authors. 
About  this  time  she  had  pubhshed  remarks  upon 
the  revolution  in  Switzerland,  together  with  Mallet 
du  Pans's  history  of  the  same.  Richter  himself 
must  unfold  her  history  in  connexion  with  himself. 
He  writes  to  Otto  : 

"  Harpocrates,  lay  thy  finger  upon  thy  lips,  for 
the  theme  is  of  her,  the  purest,  most  spiritual  fe- 
male soul  that  I  have  ever  known,  but  the  firmest 
and  most  ideal,  and  possessed  with  an  egotistical 
coldness  of  philanthropy  that  demands  and  loves 
nothing  but  perfection.  She  fulfils  all  the  duties 
of  benevolence,  but  without  warmth  of  feehng. 
At  the  baths  of  Eger  I  treated  her  with  extreme 
reserve,  and  took  rarely   her  hand,  and  only    a 


32  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

sympathizing  part  in  her  hard  fate.  She  intro- 
duced to  me  a  beautiful,  rich,  highly  moral  young 
lady,  her  friend  from  Zurich,  for  whom  no  wooer 
had  hitherto  been  pure  and  good  enough,  and 
wished  that  I  should  marry  her.  Her  proposal, 
when  she  came  now  from  Weimar,  was  that  my 
little  winnings,  and  the  young  lady's  property 
should  be  thrown  together,  to  purchase  a  country 
house,  and  that  she  should  live  constantly  with  us. 
She  yielded,  when  I  represented  the  folly  and 
impossibihty  of  such  an  arrangement,  but  her  soul 
hung  on  mine  with  more  warmth  than  mine  on 
hers ;  and  I  have  lived  through  fearful  scenes, 
blood-spitting,  and  swoonings,  such  as  no  pen  can 
describe.  At  length,  as  I  sat  one  evening  reflect- 
ing upon  her  severe  destiny,  my  heart  melted 
within  me,  and  I  went  in  the  morning  and  told 
her  I  consented  to  the  marriage  with  herself.  She 
will  do  whatever  I  wish  ;  will  purchase  a  country 
house,  wherever  I  like  best;  on  the  Necker,  the 
Rhine,  in  Switzerland,  or  Boigtland.  None  per- 
haps will  ever  love  or  esteem  me  more,  and  yet  I 
am  not  satisfied  ;  my  fate  was  not  decided  by  my- 
self. In  so  far  as  greatness  and  purity  of  soul  and 
worldly  riches  can  make  me  happy  I  shall  be  so, 
perhaps. 

'^  Ah,  Otto,  I  weary  to  write,  when  thou  art  so 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  33 

long  silent.  What  have  I  done  to  thee  ?  What 
mist  has  again  drawn  around  thee  ?  Farewell,  my 
brother !  I  long,  more  bitterly,  every  day,  for  you. 
Ah,  you  have  no  excuse,  if,  in  an  unaltered  situa- 
tion, you  alter ;  while  I,  in  an  altered,  remain  the 
same  to  you." 

Although  Otto  was  at  a  distance  from  the  fasci- 
nations of  the  lady,  his  mind  was  so  completely 
the  echo  of  his  friend's,  that  he  had  not  the  power 
to  represent  to  him,  that  by  such  a  marriage,  even 
if  he  gained  all  the  fortunes  of  Germany,  it  would 
be  no  atonement  to  a  heart  like  Richter's,  for  the 
want  of  mutual  confidence  and  love.  He  closes  a 
letter  which  is  only  a  reflection  of  the  sentiments 
of  Paul's  thus,  ''  But  were  your  wishes  not  fulfilled, 
were  the  longing  after  love  only  charmed,  not 
stilled,  we  know  that  our,  that  is,  the  poet's  king- 
dom, is  not  of  this  world."  Paul  had  therefore  to 
achieve  his  freedom  alone,  and  it  is  another  proof 
of  his  extraordinary  power,  and  the  elevating  in- 
fluence of  his  moral  nature,  that  he  not  only  recon- 
ciled the  lady  to  the  refusal  of  her  passionate  de- 
mands, but  continued  with  her  upon  the  most 
friendly  and  confidential  terms,  without  further 
question  of  love  or  marriage. 

Richter's  next  letter  informs  his  friend,  that 
even  before  he  had  received   his  last,  his  fate  was 

VOL.    II.  3 


34  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

decided.     ''  I  told  Emilie  that  I  felt  no  passion  for 
her,  and  that  it  would  be  impossible  for  us  to  live 
happily    together.      I    passed    two   inconceivably 
wretched     days  ;    but   now    her   w^ounded    heart 
closes  again  gently,  and  bleeds   less.     I  am  free, 
free,  free  and  blest  !    In   Hof  you  will  hear  of  it 
most  extensively,  but  my  justification  will  precede 
the   censure.     It   depended  on   myself,  after  my 
confessions,  to  form  with  her  a  social  and  friendly 
bond.     At  the  end  of  May  we  shall  go  together  to 
Dresden,   Seifersdorf,  and   on  the  Elbe.  ..... 

I  should  be  much  happier  in  marriage  than  you 
imagine.  If  there  were  only  the  spring  of  love,  I 
would  ask  little  from  the  summer  of  marriage.  But 
do  not  believe  that  mine  is  like  your  sacrificing 
heart.  Ah,  in  your  situation  I  should  be,  through 
youth  and  beauty,  and  through  great  tenderness 
of  soul,  completely  happy.' 

''  Let  me  say  no  more  of  you,  but  only  soon,  to 
you  —  I  believe  I  should  for  joy  and  love,  among 
you,  die  !  Ah,  the  good  Pauhna,  tell  Renata  she 
must  ask  me  w^hat  I  think  of  her  silence." 

We  have  room  but  for  one  more  extract  from 
the  Leipzig  letters  ;  one  that  shows  the  childlike 

*  Otto  had  long  been  attached  to  Amone  Herold,  but  through 
family  opposition  their  marriage  was  delayed. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  35 

simplicity  and  openness  with  which  the  two  friends 
wrote  to  each  other. 

"  I  celebrated  my  birth-day  on  the  20th,  on  ac- 
count of  the  birth  of  the  spring  ;  and  on  the  21st, 
on  account  of  my  own  birth.  From  an  unknown 
hand,  I  received  brown  cloth,  that  I  already  doubly 
wear,  as  a  coat,  and  as  an  overcoat  for  the  winter. 
Madam  Feind  gave  me  a  cup,  with  hers  and  my 
initial  letters  interlaced  ;  Madam  Bruningt  a  neck- 
cloth ;  and  the  Berlespsh  made  a  little  festival, 
with  rose-trees,  crowns,  etc. ;  to  which  Weisse  and 
some  other  friends  were  invited." 

Richter  was  now  preparing  the  second  volume 
of  the  Titan  for  the  press,  and  was  also  employed 
upon  the  Palingenesieen,  But,  in  the  midst  of 
the  business  and  pleasures  of  that  whirlpool,  the 
Leipzig  Fair,  he  was  seized  with  inexpressible  long- 
ing for  his  late  home.  He  fancied  that  this  heim- 
weh  would  be  cured  by  the  sight  of  the  green  spot 
near  the  Lorenzo  Church,  where  his  mother  re- 
posed, and  his  melancholy  dissipated  by  a  few 
days  residence  with  Otto,  and  quiet  and  confiden- 
tial intercourse  with  his  friend,  and  his  friend's 
VerJobt  Amone.  After  fourteen  days  with  Otto 
and  his  family,  who  resembled  him  in  tenderness, 
and  in  attachment  to  Richter,  he  returned,  strength- 
ened  as   much  by  their  love  as  by  the  repose  and 


36  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

freedom  from  excitement  he  had  found  in  the  httle 
city  of  Hof. 

Shortly  after  his  return,  he  journeyed  with 
Emihe  to  Dresden,  partly  to  escape  from  the  tu- 
mult of  the  fair,  and  partly  to  feel  the  full  enjoy- 
ment of  Nature,  under  the  double  charm  of  the 
opening  spring,  and  the  society  of  a  female  friend. 
It  was  Richter's  first  visit  in  Dresden,  and  he  was 
disappointed  in  the  social  tone  of  the  accomplished 
Dresdeners.  But  in  Dresden  a  new,  and  hitherto 
unimagined  world  was  opened  to  him.  He  be- 
came acquainted  with  the  Grecian  plastic  art.  A 
new  sun  arose  over  his  own,  and  threw  its  living 
beams  upon  his  mind.     He  wrote  to  Otto : 

"  As  yet,  I  can  impart  nothing  to  you  but  the 
hall  of  Sculpture,  that  yesterday  like  a  new,  huge 
world  pressed  into  my  mind,  and  nearly  crowded 
the  other  out.  We  entered  a  long,  light,  vaulted 
hall,  through  which  extended  two  rows  of  pillars. 
Between  these  pillars  repose  the  old  gods,  who 
have  thrown  off  the  world  of  the  grave,  or  the 
clouds  of  heaven,  and  reveal  to  us  a  holy,  calm, 
and  blessed  world  in  their  forms,  and  in  our  own 
breasts.  Here  we  find  the  difference  between  the 
beauty  of  a  man  and  that  of  a  god.  Tliat  excites, 
though  gently,  wishes  and  timidity,  but  this  exists 
firm  and  simple,  like  the  blue  of  ether  before  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PA.UL.  37 

world  and  time  were  created.  The  repose  of  per- 
fection, not  of  weariness,  looks  from  their  eyes 
and  rests  upon  their  lips.  Whenever  in  future  I 
write  of  great  or  beautiful  objects,  these  gods  will 
appear  before  me,  and  reveal  to  me  the  laws  of 
beauty.  Now  I  know  the  Grecians,  and  can  never 
forget  them." 

He  did  not  forget  them ;  but  the  feeling  they 
awoke  in  him  was  a  reverend  timidity  towards 
them,  and  desponding  reflections  upon  himself ;  as 
the  sight  of  a  large  library  always  made  him  mel- 
ancholy, he  felt  the  impossibility  of  taking  in  its 
treasures.  He  did  not  enter  the  hall  again.  Rich- 
ter  was  no\y  thirty-five  years  old,  and  the  feehng 
may  be  easily  understood  of  all  that  he  had  lost, 
while  his  mind  was  forming,  which  he  was  now 
too  old  to  repair.  The  sight  of  perfection  in  any 
form  excites  in  susceptible  minds  the  longing 
after  perfection.  After  his  visit  to  the  hall  of 
Sculpture,  Richter  wrote  in  a  secret  pocket-book : 
"  Unknown,  unseen !  here  in  the  stillness  of  my 
empty  chamber  comes  thy  image  !  Ah,  once,  only 
once,  thou  All-loving,  send  to  my  thirsting  heart 
>that  being  that,  as  an  eternal  pole-star  rises  above 
me,  and  that,  alas,  I  never  reach." 

This  visit  to  the  gallery  of  Sculpture  in  Dresden 
inspired  him  with  a  desire  to  renew  his  acquaint- 


38 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


ance  with  the  ancients.  He  says,  in  a  letter  to 
Thieriot  afterwards,  "  During  this  northern  win- 
ter, my  spirit  was  refreshed  in  Attica  and  Ionia. 
I  read  with  a  joy  of  which  Herder  can  tell  you, 
the  Odessey  and  Iliad,  Sophocles,  part  of  Euripi- 
des and  iEschylus.  After  the  last  hymns  of  the 
Iliad,  and  the  CEdipus  in  Colonna,  one  can  read 
nothing  but  Shakspeare  or  Goethe.  They  already 
affect  my  Titan,  but  as  the  teacher  rather  than 
the  father." 

Richter  had  already  found  reason  to  rejoice 
that  he  had  not  formed  a  more  permanent  union 
with  Emilie.  He  says  to  Otto,  ''  In  future  I  shall 
journey  alone,  and  on  foot.  With  Emilie  I  found 
upon  our  journey  too  much  egotism,  and  too  much 
aristocracy  towards  those  beneath  her  in  rank.  I 
have  again  made  peace  with  her,  although  she,  not 
I,  has  often  opened  the  old  wounds.  In  the  spring 
of  1799,  (sub-rosa)  she  will  go  to  England." 

The  lady  went  to  England,  and  resided  in  the 
Highlands  of  Scotland,  but  soon  returned  with 
heimweh  to  her  native  land.  Her  troubled  life  at 
length  reposed  happily  in  another  union. ^ 

^  Emilie  von  Berlespsh  was  a  distinguished  female  German 
author.  I  learn  from  Schindel's  biography,  that  at  the  time  of 
her  acquaintance  with  Jean  Paul  she  was  divorced  from  her 
first  husband,  although  in  his  life  she  is  called  a  widow.     She 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  39 

Upon  Richter's  return  to  Leipzig,  from  his  Dres- 
den journey,  a  deep  sorrow  awaited  him.  His 
brother  Samuel,  upon  whose  account,  and  to  pro- 
mote whose  education  he  had  come  to  Leipzig,  a 
youth  of  good  talents,  and  originally  of  a  noble 
disposition,  had  fallen  into  dissipated  company, 
and  become  involved  in  a  deep  passion  for  gaming. 
He  had  taken  advantage  of  Richter's  absence  to 
break  open  his  desk,  and  abstract  from  it  one 
hundred  and  fifty  Rix  dollars.  With  this  sum 
he  departed  from  his  brother's  lodgings,  without 
leaving  any  clue  by  which  he  could  be  dis- 
covered. 

Paul  suffered  inexpressibly  when  he  entered  his 
deserted  room,  and  discovered  the  rose-bush,  that 
had  been  his  brother's  care,  faded  and  dried  as  if 
it  had  been  long  neglected  ;  but  he  suffered  in- 
finitely more,  when  he  found  that  guilt,  also,  was 
connected  with  his  flight.  He  wrote  to  Otto, 
''  That  lost  and  deserted  one,  who  knows  me  so 
little,  and  who  will  never  guess  that  I  should  be 
more  softened  by  his  return  than  he  would  be  him- 

visited  Scotland  in  company  with  Sir  James  McDonald,  and  on 
her  return  published  a  work,  called  <'  Summer  hours  in  Cale- 
donia." In  1801,  she  married  a  second  time  the  Rath  Harms, 
and  went  with  him  to  Berne,  in  Switzerland,  where  she  owned 
estates. 


40 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


self,  comes  before  me  every  night  in  my  dreams. 
Ah,  if  he  knew  how  easily  his  hard  fate  might  be 
mitigated  !  "  He  did  not  return,  and  his  subse- 
quent fortunes  occupy  a  large  part  of  Paul's  future 
correspondence  with  Otto.  Richter  was  more 
lenient  towards  his  poor  unhappy  brother,  because 
he  reproached  himself  with  too  much  indulgence, 
and  too  little  scrutiny  of  his  conduct  while  at  the 
university.  He  never  saw  him  again,  but  he  set- 
tled on  him  a  yearly  sum,  to  be  paid  through  Otto, 
who  was  the  medium  of  communication  between 
them.  The  boy  led  a  wandering  life,  probably 
filled  with  suffering,  and  died  at  a  military  hospital 
in  Silesia.  A  strong  character  should  never  have 
the  complete  control  of  a  weak  one.  The  weak 
cannot  sympathise  with  the  strong,  and  to  conceal 
his  weakness  enters  into  a  series  of  deceptions 
that  often  end  fatally  for  the  weak. 

In  the  course  of  his  journey  to  discover  his 
brother,  Richter  visited  Halberstadt,  the  residence 
of  Gleim,^  now  an  old  man  ;  but  the  snow  that  had 
gathered  upon  his  long  locks,  had  not  extinguished 
the  youthful  fire  of  his  eye,  or  shadowed  the  fines 
of  his  noble  brow.     Gleim  stood  at  the  door  to 

^  The  reader  may  recollect  that  it  was  Gleim,  who  sent  Jean 
Paul  the  fifty  dollars,  under  the  name  of  Septimus  Fixlein. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  41 

receive  him,  and  he  was  equally  enchanted  by  the 
old  man,  and  by  the  neighborhood  of  the  Hartz 
mountains.  Paul  wrote  to  Otto:  '' Gleim  has  the 
fire  and  the' blindness  of  a  youth.  To  spare  the 
old  man  I  made  only  some  slight  remark,  when  he 
compared  the  sorrows  of  Lewis  XVI.  to  those  of 
Christ!" 

He  returned  to  Leipzig  at  the  end  of  July,  re- 
gretting "  that  he  had  found  no  man  for  his  heart ; 
that  he  had  indeed  found  men  whose  pupil  he 
could  be,  but  none  that  he  could  take  to  his 
heart." 


CHAPTER   IV. 


RICHTER      RETURNS       TO       WEIMAR. WIELAND. 

GOETHE. HERDER. HIS  ATTACHMENT  TO  JEAN 

PAUL.  PHILOSOPHY. MADAM    VON    KALB. 

A  D  1798  After  the  loss  of  his  brother,  Leipzig 
aged  35.  ^-^j^  ^|j  -^^  noise  and  tumult  appeared  to 
Richter  an  empty  and  deserted  city.  Leipzig  had 
indeed  never  fulfilled  the  expectations  of  his  youth. 
All  that  he  had  so  long  dwelt  upon  in  solitude, 
and  that  would  have  made  him  so  infinitely  happy 
as  a  youth  in  Leipzig,  came  too  late.  The  theatre, 
concerts,  the  society  of  people  of  rank,  to  one  who 
had  been  the  intimate  friend  of  Herder,  appeared 
empty  and  idle  pleasures,  and  his  longing  for  the 
conversation  of  his  friend  returned,  when  there 
was  no  longer  a  reason  for  his  remaining  in 
Leipzig.  An  invisible  hand  drew  him  again  to 
Weimar ;  an  inward  voice  whispered  to  him  that 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  43 

it  was  only  by  the  side  of  Herder  that  the  sun 
would  rise  that  was  to  ripen  his  Titan.  On  a 
visit  that  he  made  there  about  this  time,  when  all 
his  former  friends  received  him  with  the  same  de- 
light as  at  first;  Goethe,  with  more  flattering 
demonstrations  of  friendship  than  before,  the  cir- 
cle that  gathered  about  him  was  so  choice  and  so 
delightful  that  he  determined  no  longer  to  resist 
his  secret  wishes. 

Accordingly,  at  the  end  of  October,  just  a  year 
from  the  time  he  entered  it,  he  left  Leipzig,  and  on 
the  26th,  at  evening,  entered  the  gate  of  Weimar, 
to  him  that  of  a  New  Jerusalem.  The  same 
evening  he  wrote  the  following  note  to  Herder : 
"  At  length  I  have  passed  the  Arabian  Desert  of  two 
years,  and  have  arrived  with  the  same  pilgrim's 
garment,  like  an  Israelite  to  the  promised  land, 
where  I  wish  to  conquer  nothing  but  —  yourself." 

Madam  vo  i  Kalb  was  at  her  country  house, 
where  she  suflfered  with  cheerful  resignation  the 
long  night  that  the  almost  total  loss  of  her  sight 
had  drawn  around  her. 

In  as  far  as  the  comfort  of  a  poet  depends  on 
outward  circumstances,  a  humble  personage  claims 
a  page  in  his  biography.  This  is  the  Frau  Kuhn- 
holdter,  the  wife  of  a  saddler,  at  whose  house  Jean 
Paul  hired  his  apartments.     He  writes  as  usual  to 


44 


LIFE    OF    JEAN   PAUL. 


his  friend  Otto :  ''  My  greatest  refreshment  here, 
except  Herder,  is  my  house  Frau.  Never  was  I 
so  happily  lodged.  No  step-genius  provides  for 
my  comfort  and  waits  upon  me,  but  the  lady  of 
the  house  herself,  who  takes  care  of  me  as  a 
mother  would  take  care  of  her  child.  In  my  ab- 
sence she  had  a  second  door  cut  in  my  apartment, 
and  cares  for  all,  and  places  all  in  order.  At  six 
o'clock  she  comes  in,  warms  and  lights  my  room, 
and  then  brings  the  hot  coffee.  I  give  her  a 
crown,  with  which  she  pays  all,  and  keeps  an  exact 
account  till  she  needs  a  new  one,  and  I  often  have 
a  glass  of  wine  over.  She  provides  my  wood,  my 
comforts  —  takes  care  of  the  washing,  and  when  I 
go  a  little  foot  journey,  like  my  mother,  she  puts 
up  every  thing,  even  the  ink  glass.  And  when  I 
return  all  is  ready,  as  in  an  expecting  family. 
The  duchess  mother  told  me  that  my  house  Frau 
was  a  great  reader.  I  enquired,  and  found  that 
she  had  once  taken  the  (Economical  Lexicon  from 
the  library.  They  wondered  at  it,  and  it  was  pur- 
chased for  her  by  the  duchess." 

These  outward  cares,  for  which  the  good  house 
Frau  so  well  provided,  bore  upon  the  whole  tenor 
of  Richter's  life  in  Weimar,  which  was  indeed 
most  happy.  His  reception  was  even  more  flat- 
tering than  at  first,  as  personal  knowledge  had 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  45 

confirmed  the  former  admiration.  All  doors,  and 
all  hearts,  even  the  ducal,  were  opened  to  him. 
The  noble  and  intellectual  duchess  Amelia  re- 
ceived him  as  a  friend  of  the  house,  and  he  was 
indebted  to  her  descriptions  for  his  knowledge  of 
Isola  Bella,  Naples,  Ischia,  and  the  other  parts  of 
Italy,  that  he  has  painted  with  such  living  colors 
in  his  Titan.  Richter's  genius  also  was  never 
more  creative  and  sportful,  and  the  little,  work 
that  he  produced  at  this  time,  Bevorstehenden 
Lebenslauf,^  in  fullness  of  thought,  charm  of  ex- 
pression, and  a  gentle  play  of  wit  and  humor, 
between  the  serious  and  sportive,  is  not  surpassed 
by  any  of  his  longer  works. 

But  the  reader  must  not  be  defrauded  of  Paul's 
own  naive  and  simple  account.  He  writes  to 
Otto: 

"  Yesterday  I  visited  Schiller.  He  was  indis- 
posed, and  I  went,  foolishly,  to  walk  with  his  wife. 
She  belongs  to  those  agreeable  coquettes  in  con- 
versation, who  do  not  throw  the  ball  straight  back, 
but  keep  it  up  through  playful  persiflage.  She 
led  the  author  of  Hesperus,  at  twilight,  to  a  beau- 
tiful eminence,  to  see  another ;  but  he  could  only 
look  at  her  beautiful  face,  and  her  still  more 
charming  Cleopatra  eyes.     I  always  tell  her  I  can- 

*  Approaching  life's  course. 


46  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

not  believe  a  word  she  says,  unless  she  looks  in 
my  face.  ...  At  a  learned  supper  I  met  Hufe- 
land  and  Fichte,  and  others,  that  I  did  not  know. 
Fichte  is  small,  (I  thought  he  had  been  tall)  mod- 
est, and  precise,  but  not  particularly  genial.  I 
was  lovingly  treated  by  all,  especially  by  Schiller. 
Ah,  I  speak  too  openly  with  people,  and  shield 
myself  too  little.  My  table  talk  at  Dresden  to 
Schlegel,  obliged  his  brother,  when  it  was  repeat- 
ed to  him,  to  the  expression  of  his  judgment  about 
me.'    .  .  . 

"  I  write  to  you,  wrapped  in  Wieland's  wide 
mantle,  that,  on  account  of  the  cold,  his  wife 
lent  me.  I  travelled  here  on  foot,  with  only  my 
summer  coat,  and  a  pocket  full  of  shoes  and  clean 
shirts.^  Wieland  is  slender,  erect,  with  a  red 
scarf,  and  a  red  handkerchief  bound  round  his 
head  —  talking  much  of  himself,  but  not  with 
pride  —  a  Httle  aristippish,  and  indulgent  towards 
himself,  as  towards  others  —  full  of  parental  and 
conjugal  love,  but  so  intoxicated  by  the  muses, 
that  his  wife  once  concealed  from  him  for  ten 
whole  days,  the  death  of  one  of  his  children.  He 
does  not  penetrate  the  relations  of  things  so  deeply 

'  In  a  severe  review  of  Jean  Paul's  works. 
*  This  was  on   Paul's  first  visit  from  Leipzig,  before  he  had 
permanently  established  himself  in  Weimar. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  47 

as  Herder,  and  his  judgment  is  better  upon  exter- 
nal social  affairs,  than  upon  intimate  human  rela- 
tions. He  gave  me  the  palm  many  inches  higher 
than  his  own,  particularly  about  my  dreams  and 
pages  upon  nature,  and  increased  my  outward 
pride,  (my  inward,  never)  about  many  things. 
He  depreciates  himself  too  much,  and  was  too 
anxious  about  my  praise  of  his  works." 

"  On  my  second  visit  to  Wieland,with  my  wide 
fluttering  summer  ornaments,  the  good  patriarch, 
on  account  of  the  hateful  cold  weather,  brought 
me  his  coat  himself.  Today  I  carried  it  back. 
God  send  every  poet  such  an  active,  firm,  prudent, 
candid,  tender  and  kind  wife.  She  had  read  in 
the  newspapers  of  the  danger  of  resting  after  being 
cold,  and  she  brought  and  insisted  upon  my  draw- 
ing on  warm  stockings.  Wieland  could  not  sur- 
vive her,  if  she  were  to  die,  neither  she,  him.  He 
has  told  me  her  heart's  history,  and  also  his  own.' 
Ah  !  how  much  I  have  to  relate  to  your  ear  and 
heart.  ...  In  his  single,  and  widowed  daughter, 
beneath  plain  persons,  are  good  and  beautiful 
hearts  ;  but  with  such  faces  they  will  not  be  drawn 
out.  And  yet — otherwise  —  his  wife  proposed, 
and  he  mentioned  it  to  me  the  next  morning,  that 
I  should  take  the  opposite  house,  and  eat  always 

*  See  Appendix,  No.  III. 


48  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

with  them.  He  said  I  gave  him  new  life,  and  that 
they  all  loved  me  !  Naturally,  as  I  always  make 
them  laugh,  and  as  /cannot  help  loving  so  good  a 
family.  But  that  would  never  do.  Two  poets 
can  never  live  together.  x\nd  I  will  wear  no 
chain,  even  were  it  formed  of  perfume,  and  welded 
by  moonbeams  —  and  I  should  be  certain  that  in 
the  solitude  of  only  their  society,  I  should  end  by 
marrying  one  of  their  daughters  —  which  is  not 
my  plan." 

"  I  have  just  come  from  Herder.  We  sat  many 
hours  alone  in  his  arbor.  Oh,  dear  Otto,  how 
shall  I  show  you  this  noble  spirit  at  its  right  eleva- 
tion, before  which  my  little  soul  bends  with  Span- 
ish, even  Turkish  veneration  —  this  man,  penetra- 
ted with  the  Divinity,  whose  foot  is  upon  this  world, 
his  head  and  breast  in  the  other.  How  shall  I 
paint  his  inspired  eye,  when  poetry  or  music  softens 
him  ?  How  shall  I  represent  him  embracing  all  the 
branches  of  the  tree  of  knowledge,  although  he 
seizes  masses,  not  parts,  and  instead  of  the  tree, 
shakes  the  ground  upon  which  it  stands.  I  have 
often,  after  spending  the  evening  with  him,  taken 
leave  with  tears. 

"  Apropos,  I  have  also  been  with  Goethe,  who 
received  me  with  more  obliging  friendship  than  the 
first  time.  I  was,  in  consequence,  freer,  bolder, 
less  susceptible,  and  therefore  more  independent. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  49 

He  inquired  after  my  manner  of  working,  as  it 
completely  surpasses  his  method,  and  asked  how  I 
liked  Fichte.  Upon  the  last,  Goethe  said,  '  He  is 
the  great  new  scholastic.  Man  are  born  poets,  but 
they  can  make  themselves  philosophers,  if  they 
can  anywhere  fix  a  transcendental  idea.  The  new 
(philosophers)  make  light  an  object,  when  it  should 
only  show  objects.'  He  will  complete  the  Faust 
at  the  end  of  six  months.  He  said  he  could  always 
promise  himself  his  work  six  months  beforehand, 
and  he  prepares  himself  by  prudent  diet.  Schiller 
drinks  coffee  immoderately,  and  Malaga  also.  No 
one  is  as  moderate  in  coflfee  as  I  am. 

"  Goethe  told  us,  he  had  not  read  a  syllable  of 
his  Werter  until  ten  years  after  it  was  written. 
*  Who  would  willingly  surrender  themselves  to  a 
past  sensation,  and  recall  anger  or  love,'  etc.  So 
also  said  Herder  of  his  works.  What  can  be  said 
of  the  self-idolatry  of  the  small  literary  men  of  the 
day,  when  such  men  are  so  humble.  I  was  asham- 
ed not  to  he  so  before  them,  but  I  said,  *  that  my 
things,  immediately  after  they  were  printed,  pleas- 
ed me  extremely,  and  that  I  knew  no  better  read- 
ing —  but  when  I  had  forgotten  my  own  ideal,  I 
knew  none  worse.' 

"  Dear  Otto,  why  do  you  write  me  so  little  of 
yourself?  With  what  right  or  justice  should  I  give 


50  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

you  all  my  personalities,  if  I  did  not  expect  yours 
in  return.  Write  me  soon,  what  makes  you  so 
calm  —  namely  — '  your  newly-discovered  unseal- 
ed fountain.'  Has  no  one  guessed  that  it  is  a 
gift  for  distant,  thirsting  friends,  when  they  are 
told  how  often  you  sneeze,  gape,  smile,  or  weep. 
You  imagine  me  more  altered  in  my  views  of  hu- 
man life  and  benevolence  than  I  am.  I  am  the 
same  man  as  formerly,  and  have  lost  nothing  but 
certain  hopes  and  dreams." 

Otto,  in  his  next  letter,  discovers  the  source  of 
his  newly  acquired  contentment,  and  as  it  con- 
denses the  philosophy  of  many  tedious  volumes,  I 
give  an  extract  from  it. 

"  The  conviction  lies  deep  and  indelible  in  every 
human  breast,  that  only  those  have  a  right  to  be 
happy  —  more,  only  those  can  reproach  Destiny, 
who  possess  the  purest  virtue  ;  that  every  one 
should  be  satisfied  with  his  fate,  if  he  has  ever,  in 
the  course  of  his  life,  acted  unjustly  or  unwisely. 
I  reflected  upon  my  whole  life.  I  have  found 
nowhere  what  is  in  the  world  called  happiness,  but 
everywhere  gifts  that  I  had  not  deserved.  The 
more  narrowly  I  looked  at  these,  they  shivered, 
and,  like  ignoble  metals,  evaporated  in  the  melt- 
ing. How  small  then  was  the  result  ?  But  I  did 
not  spare  nor  deceive  myself,  and  hypocritically 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  51 

say,  that  my  desert  appeared  much  smaller,  and 
the  more  this  diminished  the  more  the  gifts  in- 
creased. I  felt  with  deep  mortification,  that  there 
I  should  have  been  better,  here  wiser,  or  at  least 
more  reasonable.  Then  I  was  silent  within  my- 
self, and  said,  '  Thou  hast  received  more  than  thou 
hast  deserved,  and  if  Destiny  had  given  thee 
nothing  but  this  living  faith,  and  the  still,  cool  air, 
and  the  sohtude  that  thou  lovest,  still  it  is  more,  a 
thousand  times  more  than  thou  hast  deserved.'  .  . 
"  I  celebrated  Amone's  birth-day,  this  year,  with 
emotions  wholly  different  from  former  ones.  In 
future  years,  I  thought,  she  will  live  by  me,  care 
for  me,  and  as  I  have  always  known  her  sacrificing 
love,  so  I  am  certain  that  in  every  relation  with 
me,  be  it  ever  so  Hmited,  she  will  be  contented. 
I  have  lived,  in  my  long  connection  with  her,  days 
of  sweet  and  intimate  enjoyment  for  the  mind  and 
heart.  How  often  do  I  admire  in  her,  her  sacri- 
ficing and  forbearing  spirit  —  her  tenderness  of 
heart,  together  with  the  manly  ambition  of  a  philo- 
sophical spirit ;  her  silence  and  patience  under  the 
severity  of  her  father,  and  the  narrowness  of  her 
family  ;  —  all  this  makes  the  prospect  of  life  with 
her,  and  only  with  her,  when  we  have  passed  the 
hard  circumstances  that  now  divide  us,  dear  to  my 


52  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

heart.  To  whom  could  I  say  all  this,  with  the 
prospect  of  sympathy,  but  to  you,  my  Richter  ?  " 

To  this  letter  Richter  answered  :  "  Your  excel- 
lent judgment,  upon  happiness  and  desert,  was 
always  mine.  I  have  always  myself  laid  the  egg 
out  of  which  the  basilisks  have  crept.  On  ac- 
count of  my  poor  brother,  I  have  also  some  guilt, 
but  less  of  the  heart  than  of  the  head.  I  contend- 
ed with  Goethe  upon  your  assertion  '  concerning 
the  Progress  of  the  World.'  '  Revolving,  we  must 
say,'  he  answered  ;  '  d  priori  progress  follows  from 
the  belief  of  a  Providence,  but  not  a  posteriori  is 
the  progress  always  apparent,  at  least  not  in  the 
French  revolution.  The  hardly  found  truth  we 
must  also  earn  for  ourselves.  The  chambers  of 
the  brain  are  full  of  seed,  for  which  the  feelings 
and  passions  are  the  flower  soil  and  the  forcing 
glasses.' 

''  A  young  Haydn  is  music-director  here  ;  and 
a  female  singer,  that  I  visit  sometimes,  though 
without  beauty,  is  a  perfect  gymnastic  for  wit. 
She  laughs  and  sings,  and,  with  justice,  more  than 
she  speaks.  She  told  me,  that  she  asked  Goethe 
how  she  should  receive  me,  whether  she  should 
come  trilling  to  meet  me  ?  '  Child,'  said  he,  ^  do 
as  with  me,  and  be  natural.' 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  53 

"  Herder  has  one  Alphabet  of  his  Metakritic 
ready.  He  asked  me  to  look  through  it,  and 
make  corrections.  I  told  him  I  would,  but  only 
to  read  and  restore  what  he  had  scratched  out. 

..."  In  the  great  world  I  despise  the  men 
and  their  joyless  joys  ;  but  I  esteem  the  women  ; 
in  them  alone  can  one  investigate  the  spirit  of  the 
times.  Besides,  I  am  freer  and  better  known  than 
in  a  small  place.  But,  as  I  said  to  Herder  yester- 
day, ^  Once  married,  I  shall  creep  into  the  small- 
est nest  in  the  world,  and  stick  nothing  but  my 
writing  fingers  out.'  " 

Caroline  Herder,  in  her  reminiscences  of  his 
life,  gives  a  beautiful  account  of  Richter's  relations 
at  this  time  with  her  gifted  husband. 

"  In  the  last  month  of  the  year  1798,  Jean  Paul 
Richter  came  to  Weimar,  and  with  warm,  full 
heart  to  Herder.  Herder  immediately  won  his 
love,  and  his  esteem  for  Richter's  great  and  rich 
genius  increased  from  day  to  day.  The  high  mo- 
ral power  breathing  in  his  works,  fitting  him  to  be 
a  physician  of  the  times,  united  both  men  in  a 
friendship  of  the  closest  sympathy.  He  came,  as 
though  sent  by  a  good  Providence,  exactly  at  the 
time  when  Herder,  on  account  of  his  political  and 
philosophical  principles,  was  deserted,  and  nearly 
forgotten.     The  happy  evening  hours  that  Richter 


54  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

passed  with  us,  his  perpetually  cheerful,  youthful 
soul,  his  fire,  his  humor,  the  animation  with  which 
he  talked  over  with  Herder  everything  that  hap- 
pened, always  gave  him  new  life.  Much  as  they 
differed  in  their  views  upon  one  subject,  yet  were 
their  principles  and  their  emotions  always  the 
same.  (Herder  differed  from  Richter  in  his  judg- 
ment of  women  ;  he  thought  Paul  made  them  too 
melancholy,  too  desponding,  and  perhaps  too  inac- 
tive.) Moreover,  he  valued  Richter's  genius,  his 
rich,  overflowing,  poetic  spirit,  far  above  the  soul- 
less productions  of  the  time,  that  contended  for 
the  poetic  form  only.  Herder  named  them  brooks 
without  water,  and  often  said  '^  that  Richter  stood, 
as  opposed  to  them,  upon  a  high  elevation,  and 
that  he  would  exchange  all  artistical  forms  for  his 
living  virtue,  his  feeling  heart,  his  perennial  crea- 
tive genius  ;  he  brings  new,  fresh  life,  truth,  vir- 
tue, reality,  into  the  declining  and  misunderstood 
vocation  of  the  poet." 

"  Most  intimately  united  the  two  friends  lived 
together.  Our  little  evening  table,  with  him,  our 
children,  and  sometimes  Frederic  Mayer,  was  a 
true  sanctuary.  Oh,  how  often  has  the  good 
Richter  there,  or  walking,  or  in  his  httle  journeys 
to  the  Ettersburg,  by  his  genial  humor,  robbed 
Herder  of  the  bitterness  of  his  emotions.    He  often 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  55 

said  to  me,  in  the  last  year  of  his  life,  ^  Before  I 
close  the  Adrastea,  I  will  place  there  a  memento 
of  our  Richter,  I  will  show  to  the  whole  of  Ger- 
many how  we  prize  him.'  " 

It  was  thus  that  our  Richter  was  valued  by  those 
who  best  knew  him,  and  perhaps  he  now  stood 
upon  a  higher  elevation  in  the  estimation  of  so- 
ciety, and  in  his  own,  than  he  had  before  attained. 
He  had  added  independence  and  strength  of  soul 
to  the  consciousness  of  the  value,  and  to  the  in- 
finite reverence  he  felt  for  the  holy  aim  of  his  life. 
His  views  were  more  extensive  and  richer ;  while 
his  heart  beat  with  a  more  glowing '  philanthropy. 
He  felt  that  the  calling  of  an  author,  at  this  time, 
when  a  spiritual  revolution  was  beating  in  the 
hearts  of  men,  more  important  even  than  the  po- 
litical that  was  raging  without,  demanded  all  the 
highest  qualities  of  the  soul,  as  well  as  the  devo- 
tion of  the  time  and  heart  of  him, 

"  Who  comprehends  his  trust,  and  to  the  same 
Keeps  faithful,  with  a  singleness  of  aim." 

The  friendship  which  about  this  time  he  formed 
with  Jacobi,  threw  him  again  on  the  path  of  phi- 
losophy, which  in  his  nineteenth  year  he  had 
abandoned  for  poetry.  From  the  idealism  of 
Fichte,  which  made   egotism   transcendental,  he 


56  LIFE  OF  JEAN  PAUL. 

turned  to  what  he  thought  the  interests  of  hu- 
manity demanded.  A  personal  God,  the  maker, 
preserver,  and  governor  of  the  universe ;  the  im- 
mortahty  of  man,  as  a  self-conscious  and  accounta- 
ble being  —  and  to  love,  as  the  spring,  incitement 
and  impelhng  principle  of  the  universe.  In  these 
opinions  he  found  in  Jacobi  an  immovable  rock, 
and  for  these  Herder  incessantly  contended.  They 
had  united  to  pubhsh  a  periodical  under  the  title 
of  "Auroi'a,^'  but  the  advanced  age  of  Herder,  (he 
was  in  his  sixty-sixth  year,)  and  Jacobi's  failing 
health,  prevented  the  accomplishment  of  their 
project. 

I  cannot  be  guilty  of  the  presumption  and  te- 
merity of  undertaking  to  define  the  different  sys- 
tems of  the  philosophical  writers  of  the  time,  so  as 
to  be  able  to  determine  to  which  of  them  Richter 
adhered ;  but  I  may  venture  to  assert  that  he 
dreaded  the  influence  of  the  Kantish  philosophy 
upon  religion  and  morals,  and  that  he  made  the 
idealism  of  Fichte,  (who  asserts  that  all  external 
things  are  the  production  of  the  imagination,)  the 
subject  of  severe  ridicule  in  his  Clavis  Fichtiana, 
and  has  shown  the  practical  consequences  of  his 
system  in  Schoppe,  or  Leibgeher,  a  character  intro- 
duced into  more  than  one  of  his  books,  who  is 
crazed  by  the  Ideal  philosophy,  and  maddened  by 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  57 

the  fixed  idea,  that  he  has  lost  his  individuality, 
Richter's  biographer  asserts,  that  after  the  pubUca- 
tion  of  Fichte's  book  upon  the  destiny  of  man,  he 
seized  every  opportunity  to  express  his  reverence 
for  the  author,  and  that  in  his  Lavana  he  inserted 
a  eulogy  of  Fichte. 

Jean  Paul  adhered  closely  to  Herder,  and  was  a 
fellow  believer  with  Jacobi,  the  "faith  philoso- 
pher.'^ Those  who  are  acquainted  with  the  ele- 
vated and  religious  sentiments  ''  that  echoed  to 
the  mighty  heart  of  Herder,"  will  understand  the 
position  he  took  in  German  philosophy.  Richter 
possessed  in  an  eminent  degree  what  have  been 
called  the  highest  capacities  of  man,  reverence  for 
the  holy,  and  love  for  the  beautiful.  Super- 
stition, bigotry,  and  fanaticism,  seem  to  have 
been  equally  abhorred  by  him  in  early  life,  al- 
though he  said,  after  the  French  revolution,  "  1 
bless  the  concordat.  The  deepest  superstition  is 
better  than  Atheism  and  Theism." 

In  this  happy  manner  the  autumn  passed  in 
Weimar.  In  January,  Madam  von  Kalb  returned 
from  her  country  residence,  and  immediately  a 
storm  arose  in  Richter's  Indian  summer.  She  had 
brought  her  husband  and  her  own  family  to  con- 
sent to  her  divorce,  and,  as  a  consequence,  insisted 


58 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


upon  marrying  our  hero.  But  he  must  give  his 
own  account  of  the  affair,  in  a  letter  to  Otto  : 

"  After  a  supper  at  Herder's,  with  Madam  von 
Kalb,  Herder  was  sitting  by  her,  for  he  esteems 
her  highly,  and  immediately,  in  the  presence  of 
his  wife,  kissed  her  heartily ;  and  as  the  reflection 
of  this  ancient  flame  fell  upon  me,  she  said,  '  In 
the  spring,  in  the  spring.'  I  said  afterwards  to 
her,  decidedly,  no  !  and  after  a  glow  of  eloquence 
from  her,  it  stands  thus  —  that  she  shall  take  no 
step  for,  and  I  no  step  against  the  divorce.  I 
have  at  last  acquired  firmness  of  heart.  In  this 
affair  I  am  wholly  guiltless.  I  can  feel  that  holy, 
genial  love,  that  I  cannot,  indeed,  paint  with 
this  dark  water — but  it  passes  not  beyond  my 
dreams." 

These  stormy  passages  in  the  life  of  Richter 
were  of  singular  advantage  in  enabling  him  to 
complete  his  Titan,  but  they  were  unfavorable  to 
his  own  happiness  ;  and,  as  he  said,  "  the  Berlespsh 
relation  bound  his  hands,  and  shut  his  eyes,  while 
some  gentler  heart  that  might  have  been  his  was 
lost  to  him.  Shall  I  always  thus  play  and  hope  ; 
fail  and  end  thus.  Such  women  as  both  these 
blind  one  to  every  quiet  female  Luna.  Ah,  what 
seeds  for  a  paradise  I  bore  in  my  heart,  of  which 
birds  of  prey  have  robbed  me." 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


59 


Richter  remained  firm  through  the  winter  against 
the  seductions  of  Madam  von  Kalb.  He  happily 
knew  that  such  stormy  heroines  as  Madam  Berlespsh 
and  Von  Kalb  were  never  formed  for  wives  for  him. 
He  needed  a  mild  and  gentle  spirit,  not  to  dazzle 
and  to  be  admired,  but  in  whose  unselfish  love  he 
could  find  a  sanctuary  for  his  heart.  Noble  and 
excellent  as  Richter  was,  he  was  yet  a  poet,  and 
therefore  a  spiritual  egotist,  and  his  wife  must 
minister  to  the  domestic  altar  the  sweet  and  pure 
incense  of  reverence  and  love.  With  a  Berlespsh 
he  could  have  found  no  repose,  with  Madam  von 
Kalb  there  could  have  been  no  security. 

No  genius  of  either  sex  should  marry  a  genius. 
The  result  of  the  poetic  nature  seems  to  be  an  in- 
tense personality.  I  do  not  mean  selfishness  or 
even  egotism  —  but  the  poet  lives  in  his  own  crea- 
tions ;  they  are  his  domain,  his  kingdom,  and  he 
cannot  go  out  of  them,  to  enter  into  the  heart  or 
interests  of  an  individual,  although  he  understands 
better  than  another  the  great  heart  of  humanity, 
and  lives  in  the  soul  of  the  universe.  His  wife 
should  be  willing  to  be  only  a  ray,  to  be  absorbed, 
and  have  no  individual  existence,  except  in  him. 
How  could  this  be,  were  both  poets,  both  demand- 
ing supremacy,  and  the  acknowledgment  of  indi- 
vidual superiority  ?     Far  happier,  far  more  grace- 


60 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


ful  is  it  for  the  woman  to  remain  in  the  attitude  of 
a  priestess  at  the  domestic  altar,  not  of  man,  be- 
cause he  is  a  man,  but  because  he  is  a  poet,  and 
to  keep  the  flame  pure  by  no  slavish  offering,  but 
by  the  holy  incense  of  admiration  and  reverence. 

The  work  that  appeared  this  year  from  the  pen 
of  Richter,  "  Selections  from  the  Papers  of  the 
Devil,"  recast  and  rewritten,  was  entitled  "  Palin- 
genesien,"  horn  again.  Ten  years  before,  Richter 
had  met  with  great  difficulty  in  finding  an  editor  for 
these  satires.  Disputes  were  held  upon  the  title 
—  the  printer  wishing  them  to  appear  as  "  Philo- 
sophical and  cosmopolitan  Remains  of  Faust, ^^  or 
"  Selections  from  the  writings  of  Sir  Lucifer.^^ 
Jean  Paul  adhered  to  his  own  title,  but  the  book 
attracted  little  attention  at  the  time.  It  was  now 
wholly  rewritten,  and  only  about  ten  of  the  original 
satires  retained;  these  being  the  only  pages  that 
could  have  a  direct  reference  to  the  present  time, 
and  be  combined  with  a  dramatic  action.  A 
critic,  speaking  of  this  book,  says,  "  It  is  one  of 
the  works  of  the  author  that  gives  the  most  lucid 
explanation  of  the  being  and  nature  of  the  poet, 
and  places  poetical  influences  in  the  clearest  hght." 


CHAPTER   V. 


RICHTER    VISITS    THE    COURT  OF  HILDBURGHAUSEN. 

MADEMOISELLE     VON      F. THE    FOUR    SISTER 

PRINCESSES. DEDICATION    OF     TITAN.  VISITS 

BERLIN. 

In  the  spring  of  1799,  Madam  von  Kalb,  ^  ^  j^gg 
having  invited  Amone,  the   betrothed  of    ^»®''^^' 
Otto,   to  accompany   her,    retired  to  one  of  her 
country  houses,  and  all  question   of  the   divorce 
was  thenceforth  dropped. 

Richter  could  not  pass  the  genial  season  of 
spring  without  a  longing  desire  to  wander ;  he 
therefore  accepted  an  invitation  to  visit  the  court 
of  Hildburghausen,  from  whose  duke  he  had  re- 
ceived the  diploma  of  Legations  rath.  He  was 
also  drawn  thither  by  the  powerful  attraction  of  a 
young  lady,  Caroline  von  F.,  whom  he  had  met  in 
Weimar  the  previous  winter,  and  who  was  an  at- 


62 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


tendant  on  the  duchess  of  Hildburghausen.  This 
new  attachment  was  so  far  happier  for  Richter, 
that  the  lady  did  not  belong  to  the  class  of  eccen- 
tric beings  who  had  before  entangled  him,  but  the 
storm  that  nipped  and  destroyed  its  fruit  in  the 
bud,  came  from  the  opposition  of  her  noble  rela- 
tions. 

His  letters  describe  the  delightful  residence  of 
a  few  weeks  at  this  court,  and  the  flattering  kind- 
ness of  the  duchess.  She  was  one  of  the  four 
beautiful  sisters  to  whom  he  afterwards  dedicated 
his  Titan,  He  must  first  describe  his  situation  at 
the  court,  and  then  the  lady  of  his  love.  His 
letter  is  to  Otto. 

"  Paint  to  yourself  the  heavenly  duchess,  with 
her  childlike  eyes,  her  whole  face  full  of  love  and 
the  charm  of  youth,  her  voice  like  the  nightin- 
gale's, and  her  mother's  heart  —  then  the  not  less 
beautiful  sister,  the  princess  von  Solms,  and  the 
third,  the  princess  of  Thun  and  Taxis,  and  their 
lovely,  healthy  children,  who  all  arrived  on  the 
same  day  that  I  did.  We  will  pass  the  men,  but 
with  the  princess  von  Solms  I  could  be  happy  in 
a  mountain  coal  mine.  All  these  women  read  me, 
and  love  me  truly,  and  urge  me  to  stay  yet  eight 
days  longer,  when  the  fourth,  the  yet  more  charm- 
ing sister,  the  queen  of  Prussia,  is  expected.     I 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  63 

am  invited  to  dinner  every  evening.  The  duke  is 
extremely  goodnatured,  but  could  not  at  first  be 
much  au  fait  with  me.  He  remarked  that  I  took 
too  little  asparagus,  and  helped  me,  not  only  to 
this,  but  to  the  first  young  venison,  which  is  not 
indeed  wonderfully  good.  Yesterday  I  fantasied 
upon  the  flute  before  the  court.  You  are  shocked 
and  frightened.  But  for  more  than  half  a  year  I 
have  done  it  passably,  before  Gleim,  Weisse, 
Herder,  and  the  duchess  mother.  I  have  also  here 
an  established  brother  and  sisterhood,  and  could  be 
a  Zinzendorf.  No,  it  would  be  ungrateful  if  I  did 
not  receive  the  love  of  the  Germans  as  the  richest 
reward  of  my  authorship. 

"  My  Carohne  lives  with  her  mother,  sisters  and 
brother,  and  the  time  I  am  not  at  court  is  passed 
with  her.  I  know  her  now  more  intimately,  and 
in  no  female  soul  have  I  found  such  serene,  sedu- 
lous, religious  morality  ;  immovable  and  incorrupti- 
ble in  its  smallest  branches.  One  feels,  alas,  by 
her  moral  tenderness,  that  he  has  been  long  in 
Weimar.  If  I  were  united  with  her,  my  whole 
being,  even  the  smallest  stain,  would  be  purified. 
She  does  not  read,  as  young  ladies  usually  do, 
merely  to  dissolve  a  sentimental  manna  upon  her 
tongue,  but  to  learn  ;  that  is,  she  reads  history  and 
natural  history.     She  has  formed  a  complete  herb- 


64  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

arium,  and  a  succession  of  ingenious  flower  paint- 
ings. She  makes  verses,  as  you  will  learn  by  the 
accompanying  enclosure,  and  therefore  she  cannot 
forget  the  satire  upon  female  poetry  in  J.  P.'s 
letters.^  It  was  true,  she  said,  but  too  bitter. 
She  drinks  no  wine  at  dinner,  and  passes  great 
part  of  her  time  in  the  open  air,  in  the  garden. 
^  Now  that  I  am  healthy,'  she  says,  '  I  will  make 
myself  hardy.'  .  .  .  Her  delicate  mother  cer- 
tainly guesses  all,  and  by  her  silence  gives  con- 
sent. I  dare  tell  you  all.  With  three  kind  words 
you  can  give  this  dear  being  three  heavens.  .  .  . 
Her  complexion  is  fair,  and  pale  red,  her  brow 
poetical  and  feminine,  her  eyebrows  strong,  indeed 
too  much  so,  and  her  eyes  dark.  The  nose  is  the 
reverse  of  little  and  short ;  the  lips  naturally  cut, 
and  the  chin  a  little  too  prominent.  Of  the 
beauty  of  her  hair  I  enclose  a  proof.  Pray  return 
it  immediately.  I  derive  from  her,  God  knows 
why,  unless  it  is  my  five-and-thirty  years,  a  sense 
of  firmness  and  security  that  enables  me  to  enjoy 
the  present  hour,  without  anxiety  for  future  years ; 
and  thus  my  life  completes  its  circle,  its  enchanted 
circle." 

Richter  was  now  more  genuinely  attached  than 

^  See  Jean  Paul's  "  Conjectural  Biography." 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  65 

he  had  ever  been,  and  the  lady  appeared  to  have 
reciprocated  his  emotions ;  but  the  course  of  their 
love  was  turbid  and  ruffled.  Paul  was  tortured 
all  through  the  summer  by  the  caprices  of  Caro- 
Hne's  noble  relatives.  At  one  time  she  gained 
their  consent  to  the  betrothment,  and  Richter 
wrote,  full  of  joy  to  Otto,  to  postpone  his  marriage 
with  Amone,  that  they  might  have  the  happiness  of 
solemnizing  both  on  the  same  day,  and  both  re- 
tiring to  the  little  city  of  Bayreuth,  there  to  realize 
the  plans  of  their  youth.  All  these  changes  are 
related  most  faithfully  to  his  friend,  and  he  closes 
one  of  his  letters  with  these  words  :  "  How  can  I 
tell  you.  Otto,  how  entirely  I  esteem  her  —  not 
merely  love,  for  that  is  always  so  easy." 

The  winter  passed  in  frequent  correspondence, 
and  in  May  his  friends,  the  Herders,  went  with 
him  to  Ilmaneau,  where  Caroline  then  was,  to 
celebrate  the  festival  of  betrothment.'     Certainly 

'  The  ''  Vcrlohung"  is  often,  but  not  always,  a  solemn  cere- 
mony in  German  society.  It  means  that  the  lover  is  formally 
accepted  by  the  lady  and  her  family.  If  there  be  no  reason  for 
keeping  the  affair  secret,  the  relations  and  friends,  on  both  sides, 
are  assembled,  a  little  festival  takes  place,  and  the  young  peo- 
ple are  presented  as  "  Verlobt,"  affianced,  or,  as  we  say  in  this 
country,  "engaged."  The  marriage  ceremony,  vi^hich  takes 
place  afterwards,  is  more  private,  and  attended  by  fewer  wit- 
nesses.    In  this  country  we  have  the  custom  of  "  Verlobung," 

VOL.   II.  5 


66  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Richter  had  never  loved  apparently  so  naturally 
and  prudently,  and  the  encouragement  of  the 
Herders  was  to  him  a  guarantee  of  his  future  hap- 
piness. They  found  that  his  Caroline  surpassed 
even  the  description  of  her  lover.  There  was 
something  about  her  fascinating  to  people  not  ex- 
actly of  the  world,  and  that  took  the  Herders  by 
surprise.  What  took  place  at  this  time  is  not 
exactly  known,  the  opposition  of  the  relatives  does 
not  appear  to  have  prevented  the  betrothment, 
but  some  little  moral  differences,  that  would  have 
destroyed  the  whole  happiness  of  the  marriage. 
Richter  returned  to  Weimar  with  a  crushed  heart 
—  he  had  no  words  to  describe  the  agitation  his 
disappointment  occasioned  ;  for  a  moment  the 
health  of  this  strong  and  firm  being  sank  under 

without  the  ceremony;  and  here,  as  Mrs.  Jameson,  in  her 
pleasant  notes  to  the  princess  Amelia's  Dramas,  observes,  "  the 
engaged  youth  is  expected  to  devote  every  leisure  minute  to  the 
society  of  bis  betrothed  ;  he  attends  her  to  all  public  places,  and 
to  every  private  party,  (as  it  is  not  considered  good  manners  to 
invite  them  separately,")  and  less  restraint  is  placed  on  the  in- 
tercourse of  the  lovers  here,  than  even  in  Germany.  In  Eng- 
land, it  may  be  presumed,  from  Mrs.  Jameson,  the  lovers  do  not 
appear  much  together  before  marriage  ;  and  in  France  it  is 
offending  against  hicn-seance,  ever  to  leave  them  alone  to- 
gether. In  this,  as  in  other  habits  of  social  life,  we  have  been 
permitted,  in  this  countrij,  to  select  what  is  good  and  agreeable, 
from  all  others. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  67 

the  blow,  and  the  thought  of  returning  again  to 
the  desert  world.  He  thus  closed  a  letter  to  Otto : 
"  The  blow  is  given  that  has  cut  me  to  the  inmost 
heart.  I  also  am  superstitious  —  misfortunes  and 
happiness  come  twice,  not  three  times.  I  long 
infinitely  for  the  little  corner  of  my  birth,  and  the 
innocent  and  touching  scenes  about  you.'  You 
know  not  how  my  heart,  even  to  sadness,  dwells 
upon  your  day  of  ceremony.'  We  can  never  lose 
each  other,  therefore  everything,  even  the  weather, 
will  be  important  to  me,  as  it  concerns  you,  and 
our  Amone." 

Otto,  who  appears  to  have  felt  a  singularly 
warm  interest  in  the  Fraulein  von  F.,  insisted 
upon  knowing  more  distinctly  the  causes  of  the 
rupture.  Richter  says,  in  reply,  "  Merely  little 
moral  differences,  but  such  as  would  have  de- 
stroyed the  whole  happiness  of  marriage."  But 
there  was  also  the  opposition  of  the  lady's  noble 
family,  who  probably  looked  with  the  eyes  of 
worldly  prudence,  not  merely  upon  their  sister's 
violation  of  all  German  conventionahsm,  in  uniting 
herself  with  an  author,  but  trembled  for  the  strait- 


*  Otto   and   his   sister   Frederica  were  both  married  at  this 
time  ;  and  Otto  immediately  removed  to  Bayreuth. 


Otto's  Verlobung  day. 


68  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ened   circumstances  into  which  her  disinterested 
inexperience  would  lead  her. 

In  a  letter,  written  to  her  at  the  breaking  off 
the  betrothment,  Paul  says  ;  "  Only  one  fault  have 
I,  and  only  I,  committed  throughout,  that  after  so 
many  earlier  lessons  from  experience,  I  did  not 
immediately,  as  soon  as  we  had  once  conversed 
with  each  other,  write  this  letter  to  you,  and  im- 
press it  upon  my  own  heart." 

Otto,  to  whom  the  correspondence  was  trans- 
mitted, draws,  as  he  was  accustomed  to  do,  these 
wise,  but  alas,  too  tardy  reflections,  for  the  use  of 
his  friend  : 

^'  It  is  a  weak  perverseness  of  our  nature,  and 
yet  an  antidote  against  egotism,  that  when  we  see 
a  being  worthy  of  our  esteem,  we  turn  from  what 
we  discover  in  them  that  is  disagreeable,  and  be- 
lieve that  if  we  shut  our  eyes  so  as  not  to  see 
them,  the  little  spots  are  not  there  ;  as  if  we  could 
avert  the  divine  and  human  sentence  which  de- 
crees, that  inequalities  and  blemishes,  shall,  in  the 
course  of  time,  become  more,  instead  of  less  ap- 
parent, and  that  because  we  blind  ourselves,  they 
should  vanish  and  be  obliterated.  That  your  sep- 
aration is  right,  that  it  is  the  work  of  destiny,  and 
that  you  have  completed  the  decree  of  a  higher 
Power,  that  you  should  not  be  happy  together,  is 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  69 

true,  and  that  the  good  and  unfortunate  Caroline 
will  be  the  most  unhappy,  is  also  true ;  because 
she  will  never  be  in  a  situation  to  understand  the 
disparity  and  inequality  between  you.  Because 
the  advantages  of  the  separation  are  more  ap- 
parent to  you  than  the  advantages  of  the  union, 
you  can  justify  the  separation  to  yourself ;  but  it 
is  the  reverse  with  Caroline ;  she  can  never  under- 
stand the  (disadvantages  of  the  union,  because  her 
disinterested  generosity  and  affection  would  oblit- 
erate them  all ;  while  she  feels  the  unhappiness  of 
the  separation." 

We  see  from  these  extracts  that  Richter  was 
not  altogether  blameless  with  regard  to  the  Frau- 
lein  von  F.,  because  his  deeper  penetration  and 
experience  of  life,  had  enabled  him  from  the  be- 
ginning, to  understand  the  disparities,  whether  of 
a  moral  or  conventional  nature,  which  would  have 
rendered  their  union  unhappy ;  and  yet  he  per- 
mitted himself  to  win  the  love  of  the  lady.  She 
seems  to  have  been  greatly  attached  to  him,  and 
for  his  sake  would  have  sacrificed  the  privileges  of 
rank,  and  accepted  the  inconveniences  of  poverty  ; 
and  it  was  no  balm  to  a  wounded  heart,  or  to 
wounded  pride,  that  he  had  had  the  sagacity  to 
foresee  the  issue. 

As   women,   we  may  be   permitted  to  protest 


70  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

against  Richter,  in  connexion  with  our  sex.  It  is 
true,  that  he  has  written  beautifully  and  elo- 
quently of  women  ;  and  has  perhaps,  done  much 
to  elevate  and  spiritualize  their  views  and  affec- 
tions ;  but  in  actual  life  he  was  not  wholly  sincere 
with  the  beings  he  professed  to  reverence.  After 
the  fancy  for  the  little  blue-eyed  peasant  girl,  till 
his  marriage,  he  does  not  appear  to  have  felt  the 
truth  and  tenderness  of  an  equal  love.  He  was 
dreaming  of  an  ideal,  spiritual  love,  like  a  far  off 
luminous  star,  while  he  permitted  himself  to  write 
letters  to  his  four  or  five  Hofer  friends,  that  from 
any  but  a  poet,  would  have  been  thought  genuine 
declarations  of  love. 

In  his  connexion  with  Madam  von  Kalb  and 
Emilie  Berlespsh,  he  was  more  sinned  against  than 
sinning ;  in  the  one  case  he  retreated  before  dis- 
honor, in  the  other  before  a  marriage  in  which 
there  could  be  no  genuine  and  mutual  affection  ; 
but  even  here  he  appropriated  their  unselfish  af- 
fections, their  disinterested  devotion,  to  purposes 
of  artistic  creation ;  he  made  them  the  models  for 
the  female  characters  in  his  works,  and  they  lived 
to  see  the  warm  pulses  of  their  hearts  registered, 
and  made  a  standard  by  which  to  count  the 
feverish  or  healthful  pulsation  of  other  hearts. 

In  the  usual  acceptation  of  the  word,  Richter 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  71 

was  not  an  enemy  to  women,  but  his  devotion  to 
them  was  not  a  genuine  devotion  to  them,  as 
women  ;  he  did  not  love  them  for  themselves  ;  he 
loved  them  artistically ;  and  as  the  artist  drapes 
his  model  in  every  graceful  form  to  produce  effect, 
Jean  Paul  made  use  of  the  power  his  genius  gave 
him  over  the  minds  of  women,  to  draw  out  the 
sweet  affections,  the  hidden  depths  of  the  heart, 
revealed  only  to  love,  to  increase  his  pschycologi- 
cal  knowledge  for  the  public. 

In  spite  of  all  the  various  causes  of  interruption, 
Richter  was  never  more  completely  absorbed  in 
work  than  through  this  winter.  The  first  volume, 
and  the  comic  appendix  to  Titan,  was  ready  for 
the  press,  and  he  had  printed  his  history  of 
"  Charlotte  Corday,^'  and  Clavis  Fichtiana.  Nei- 
ther of  these  were  works  of  the  first  impor- 
tance, but  they  served  to  keep  him  before  the 
public  while  his  great  work  was  in  preparation. 

The  Clavis  Fichtiana  was,  at  the  time,  one  of 
his  most  celebrated  works,  and  attracted  much 
attention  upon  its  publication.  Fichte's  popu- 
larity was  so  great,  or  the  interest  in  metaphysical 
speculations  so  intense,  that  the  booksellers  paid 
him  six  louis  d'ors  a  sheet,  for  his  lectures,  while 
Goethe  received  only  five,  at  the  same  time,  for  his 
most  admired  works.     It  would  not,  perhaps,  be 


72  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

interesting  to  inquire  at  this  distance  of  time,  and 
in  another  country,  why  Jean  Paul  threw  himself 
so  entirely  into  the  philosophical  and  metaphysical 
contests  of  the  day.  From  all  that  can  be  gath- 
ered from  his  letters,  it  would  seem  to  be  his 
friendship  for  Herder  and  Jacobi ;  but  he  gained 
nothing,  even  from  them,  and  he  widened  the 
distance  between  himself  and  Goethe  and  Schiller. 

His  letters  at  this  time  to  his  friend  Otto,  to 
whom  he  confided  every  intimate,  and  every  pass- 
ing emotion,  betray  discontent  and  restlessness  ;  a 
deep  longing  for  quiet  and  retirement,  yet  an  un- 
willingness to  retire  until  he  had  formed  a  union 
that  would  satisfy  his  heart,  if  not  his  ideal  — 
although,  at  present,  he  certainly  did  not  place  his 
demands  too  high.  He  says  ;  "  I  would  fain  find 
a  gentle  girl  who  could  cooli:  something  for  me  : 
and  who  would  sometimes  smile,  and  sometimes 
weep  with  me." 

During  the  whole  of  this  winter,  Richter  was 
flattered  and  courted  by  the  four  beautiful  prin- 
cesses already  mentioned  ;  and  he  obtained  per- 
mission to  dedicate  his  Titan  to  them. 

The  dedication  of  Titan  to  the  four  distin- 
guished sisters,  the  daughters  of  the  duke  of  Meck- 
lenburg, is  not  to  the  sisters  wpon  the  throne,  for 
he  mentions  only  their  baptismal  names,  and  com- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  73 

mends  his  Titan  to  their  favor  as  exalted  human, 
not  princely  beings  ;  and  when  his  friends  repre- 
sented that  his  Titan  contained  bitter  satires 
against  princes,  he  answered,  ''  that  his  dedication 
was  to  them  as  women,  not  princesses,  and  that 
his  satire  touched  princes  only,  not  their  wives." 
This  pretty  piece  of  flattery  is  thus  presented  : 
The  queen  of  Love  and  her  three  attendant 
graces  look  from  their  cold  Olympus,  through  the 
atmosphere,  and  long  to  descend  to  our  earth, 
where  the  soul  loves  more  because  it  suffers  more ; 
and  although  it  is  darker,  it  is  warmer  than  on 
Olympus.  They  hear  the  sacred  hymns  of  Poly- 
hymnia, as  she  wanders  invisible  through  the  earth, 
to  elevate  and  console  man,  and  they  mourn  that 
they  are  so  distant  from  the  sighs  of  the  helpless. 
Then  they  resolved  to  clothe  themselves  in  the 
veil  of  humanity,  and  descend  to  earth.  As  they 
touched  the  flowers  of  earth,  and  threw  no  shadow, 
the  queen  of  heaven  raised  her  sceptre  and  decreed, 
that  these  immortals  should  be  mortal,  and  take  the 
form  of  the  four  sisters,  Louisa,  Charlotte,  Theresa 
and  Frederica,  and  the  loves  were  changed  into 
their  children,  and  flew  into  the  arms  of  the  moth- 
ers. Then  their  hearts  beat  with  new  love,  and 
Polyhymnia,  as  she  hovered  invisibly  near,  gave 
them  the  voice  and  the  heart  to  charm,  and  to 
console  humanity. 


74  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

The  rupture  of  his  ties  with  the  Fraulein  von  F. 
made  Richter  very  desirous  to  remove  for  a  short 
time  from  Weimar,  where  he  was  constantly  meet- 
ing her  family ;  fortunately,  a  singular  circum- 
stance drew  him  at  this  time  to  Berlin. 

The  previous  March  he  had  received  an  anony- 
mous letter  from  Belgard,  Upper  Pomerania,  to- 
gether with  his  Hesperus,  translated  into  French. 
The  writer  promised  to  make  herself  known  as 
soon  as  an  answer  to  her  letter  gave  her  courage. 

Richter  answered  immediately,  which  was  not 
his  custom  to  anonymous  letters  ;  and  the  lady 
made  herself  known  as  the  lady  Josephine  von 
Sydon  ;  French  by  birth,  but  who  had  so  far  be- 
come mistress  of  the  German  language,  as  to  read 
it  with  ease,  and  to  translate  it  into  her  mother 
tongue.  Her  love  of  Richter's  works  had  excited 
the  highest  admiration  for  their  author,  and  an 
ardent  desire  to  become  personally  acquainted 
with  him.  Richter  now  went  to  Berlin  to  meet 
her,  with  whom  he  had  formed  a  friendship  by 
means  of  a  correspondence  in  different  languages, 
and  with  the  partition  wall  of  mountains  also 
between  them. 

It  rarely  happens,  that  a  friendship  formed  with- 
out a  personal  interview,  through  the  charm  of 
correspondence,    will   not   disappoint  one  of  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  75 

parties  when  they  meet.  We  have  none  of  the 
letters  of  Josephine,  but  Richter's  expectations 
were  more  than  satisfied.  He  wrote  to  Otto ; 
"  My  Josephine  has  increased  my  esteem  and  ad- 
miration. What  southern  naivete,  simpHcity  and 
openness,  carried  to  almost  childish  excess ;  south- 
ern animation,  firmness  and  tenderness,  with  a 
true  German  eye  and  heart." 

This  year  also,  in  the  midst  of  his  intimacy  with 
the  four  princesses,  he  wrote  his  Eulogy  of  Char- 
lotte Corday,  the  female  Brutus  of  the  French 
revolution,  in  every  line  of  which  breathes  the 
holiest  love  of  freedom.  Paul  represents  Corday 
as  sacrificing,  not  the  opposer  of  legitimacy,  but 
the  tyrant  of  a  republic  ;  and  has  the  boldness  to 
make  a  governing  German  count  a  fellow  admirer 
of  the  heroine.  He  defended  the  deed,  not  from 
feeUng,  but  from  principle.  She  destroyed  Marat, 
not  as  a  citizen,  but  as  an  enemy  of  the  state,  in  a 
civil  war ;  consequently,  he  regarded  her  act  not 
as  the  offence  of  an  individual  against  an  indi- 
vidual, but  as  the  act  of  a  party,  against  a  corrupt 
and  apostate  member. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


RICHTER  REMOVES  TO  BERLIN. INTRODUCTION  TO 

CAROLINE  MEYER. THE  MEYER  FAMILY. THE 

"  VERLOBUNG." 

Berlin  was  at  this  time  to  our  Richter  a  ^  ^  jg^Q 
newly  discovered  part  of  the  world.  The  ^^^^  ^^' 
society  was  distinguished  by  a  higher  culture,  a 
more  refined  tone,  through  the  accomplishments  of 
the  women,  to  which  the  beautiful  Queen  Louisa, 
one  of  the  four  sisters,  lent  a  splendor  and  a  charm 
at  that  time  unequalled  elsewhere.  But  Richter 
must  speak  for  himself. 

"  I  have  been  here  two-thirds  of  a  week,  and 
must  remain  the  following,  as  Offland,  on  my  ac- 
count, will  perform  the  Wallenstein.  I  have  never 
been  received  in  any  city  with  such  idolatry.  After 
such  an  elevation,  I  can  henceforth  only  sit  upon 
the  steps  of  the  throne,  never  again  upon  its  sum- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  77 

mit.  I  avoid  the  merely  learned,  and  therefore  I 
meet  with  no  envy ;  but  only  a  too  warm  enthu- 
siasm, that  does  not  make  me  proud  of  myself,  but 
of  humanity.  How  it  refreshes  the  heart  to  find 
the  same  sighs  for  the  spiritual  in  a  thousand  hearts 
that  arise  in  mine,  and  prove,  that  we  have  with- 
in us  a  common  heaven. 

"  The  splendid  queen  invited  me  immediately 
to  Sans  Souci.  Heavens  !  what  simplicity,  frank- 
ness, accomphshment  and  beauty  !  I  dined  with 
her,  and  she  showed  me  the  kindest  attention. 
The  learned  Zollner  invited  eighty  persons  to  meet 
me  at  the  York  Lodge  ;  gentlemen,  their  wives 
and  daughters,  of  the  learned  circles.  I  have  a 
watch  chain  of  the  hair  of  three  sisters,  and  so  much 
hair  has  been  begged  of  me,  that  if  I  were  to  make 
it  a  traffic,  I  could  live  as  well  from  the  outside  of 
my  cranium,  as  from  what  is  under  it. 

"  I  have  been  often  with  the  highly  accomplish- 
ed minister.  Von  Alvensleben.  The  tone  at  the 
court  table  was  easy  and  good  ;  with  Alvensleben 
one  may  speak  as  freely  as  upon  this  sheet.  Only 
in  Berlin  is  freedom  and  law !  " 

The  reader  will  recollect,  that  when  Jean  Paul 
was  nameless,  and  struggling  with  the  waves  of 
poverty,  that  nearly  made  shipwreck  of  his  hopes, 
from  Berlin  was  the  first  plank  thrown  that  brought 


78  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

him  to  land.^  Now  he  says,  "  they  threw  a  couple 
of  worlds  upon  his  head." 

The  impression  that  he  made  upon  the  BerHn- 
ians,  we  learn  from  the  journal  of  a  lady  at  this 
time  published.  She  says,  "  Among  the  wonder- 
ful peculiarities  of  our  time,  and  from  which  our 
country  will  receive  a  distinguished  radiance,  is 
the  appearance  of  Jean  Paul.  As  yet,  few  among 
us  know  him,  but  those  who  have  seen  him  look 
upon  him  as  an  apparition  from  another  world,  as 
a  prophet  who  has  come  thence  to  perform  mira- 
cles incomprehensible  to  the  senses.  No  one  had 
scented  his  approach  ;  of  so  rare  a  man,  no  one 
had  received  an  idea.  Like  a  beam  of  light  he 
flashed  among  us,  but  cheering  as  the  star  of  day 
is  his  lingering  here.  He  cannot  be  more  than 
forty,  though  he  has  a  bald  head.  All  the  riches 
of  language  appear  to  have  been  created  for  him. 
Nature  is  his  dwelling,  customs  his  playthings, 
and  men  his  machines.  Like  the  sun,  he  shines 
through  the  curtains  of  art,  and  the  labyrinth  of 
the  heart,"  etc. 

It  was  not  only  in  the  journals  of  ladies  that 
Richter  was  favored  ;    the  beautiful  queen,  whose 

'  MoritZj  in  Berlin,  from  whom  he  received  a  hundred  ducats 
for  the  manuscript  of  the  Invisible  Lodge. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  79 

fate  has  thrown  a  touching  interest  over  everything 
relating  to  her,  continued  firm  and  steady  in  her 
friendship.  She  never  spoke  of  him  but  with  a 
deep  feehng  of  his  worth  as  a  man  and  an  author ; 
and  with  the  brother  of  the  queen,  Prince  George 
of  Mecklenburg,  he  formed  a  friendship  that  was 
uninterrupted  till  his  death.  In  Schliermaker  he 
found  a  congenial  spirit,  and  formed  many  friend- 
ships with  distinguished  women. 

Taking  into  view  all  these  circumstances,  it  is 
not  surprising  that  Richter  should  form  the  resolu- 
tion to  remove  to  Berlin,  and  fix  there  his  perma- 
nent residence.  A  secret  and  unacknowledged 
inclination,  as  well  as  an  unseen  and  Providential 
hand  guided  him  to  the  happiness  he  had  so  long 
been  seeking.  The  separation  from  his  friends  the 
Herders,  cost  him  some  painful  and  lingering  hours, 
but  a  more  powerful  wish  drew  him  onward,  and 
before  the  end  of  the  year  he  had  accomplished 
his  removal. 

It  was  in  October,  1800,  that  Richter  finally 
made  in  Berlin  his  permanent  residence.  On  his 
first  visit  at  the  festival  that  Zollner  made  for  him 
at  the  York  Lodge,  he  met  the  secret  tribunal 
counsellor,  Meyer,  and  his  two  unmarried  daugh- 
ters. A  httle  accident,  his  being  too  late  to  take 
the   place  assigned   him  at  the  right  hand  of  the 


80  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

presidentj  brought  him  to  an  unoccupied  seat  at 
the  side  of  Carohne,  the  second  daughter  of  the 
counsellor.  It  was  the  only  vacant  place  at  the 
table,  and  the  young  lady's  heart  began  to  beat 
when  she  saw  the  wonderful  man,  the  observed  of 
all  observers,  approach  it,  and  with  timid  humility 
she  shrank  from  supporting  a  conversation  with 
him  ;  but  as  Richter  had  come  from  dining  at  Sans 
Souciy  the  conversation  about  the  queen  and  the 
court  immediately  became  interesting.  The  mild- 
ness and  friendliness  of  Paul's  manner,  wrought  a 
sudden  change  from  timidity  to  the  most  ingenu- 
ous confidence  in  the  soul  of  Caroline  Meyer. 
Richter,  in  his  personal  appearance  and  manners, 
exerted  a  magical  influence  over  all  minds,  and 
nothing  interested  him  so  deeply  as  the  unveiling 
of  an  innocent  female  heart.  He  was  touched  ; 
and  at  rising  from  the  table  gave  Caroline  the 
flower  from  his  breast,  and  asked  her  to  present 
him  to  her  father.  It  happened  that  her  sister 
Ernestine,  who  sat  opposite  at  the  table,  and,  like 
a  true  woman,  had  observed  the  impression  that 
had  been  made  on  Caroline,  now  met  them  with 
her  father.  They  had  seen  in  his  eyes  an  expres- 
sion of  high  esteem  for  Jean  Paul,  and  secretly 
happy,  about  midnight  they  left  the  party.  Rich- 
ter led  the  sisters  through  the  long  avenues  of  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  81 

garden  to  their  carriage,  without  either  expressing 
the  wish  to  meet  again,  and  bade  them  silently 
good  night.  One  day  only  was  permitted  to  pass 
before  he  called  at  the  house  of  the  Rath,  with  the 
excuse,  that  he  could  not  leave  Berlin  without  ex- 
pressing his  gratitude  for  the  agreeable  evening  he 
had  passed  at  the  York  Lodge. 

But  before  we  proceed  with  the  wooing,  we 
must  learn  something  of  the  family  of  the  Gehei- 
mer-Rath  Meyer.  He  was  himself  one  of  the 
most  accomplished  and  distinguished  officers  of  the 
Prussian  government,  and  had  married  early  in 
hfe  a  daughter  of  the  family  of  Germershause, 
who  had  been  educated  in  country  simplicity,  but 
in  all  the  severity  of  the  orthodox  faith  ;  and  even 
after  her  marriage  hung  with  passionate  love  on 
the  parental  house. 

Herr  Meyer  was  a  man  who  cherished  a  high 
ideal  of  life  and  its  duties  ;  and  uniting  the  most 
agreeable  accomplishments  with  the  most  enlight- 
ened views,  he  moved  in  the  distinguished  circles 
of  Berlin,  one  of  the  most  interesting  men  of  the 
period.  By  the  intolerance  of  his  mother-in-law, 
and  the  blind  subjection  in  which  she  held  the  will 
of  her  daughter,  he  was  either  deprived  of  the  en- 
joyment of  his  refined  tastes,  or  obliged  to  live  in 
continual  discord  with  his  relations.     The  numer- 

VOL.    II.  C 


82  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ous  sacrifices  that  he  made  to  his  mother-in-law 
only  increased  her  asperity,  and  his  wife  always 
taking  the  side  of  her  mother,  at  last  a  coldness 
and  estrangement  arose,  that  after  seven  years  of 
married  life  resulted  in  a  mutual  agreement  of 
separation. 

But  as  Providence  had  denied  him  a  son,  and 
Herr  Meyer  desired  for  his  daughters  the  most  Hb- 
eral  culture,  and  the  modern  accomplishments, 
which  he  could  not  depend  on  the  mother  to  sanc- 
tion, they  formed  the  singular  agreement,  that  the 
weeks  should  be  passed  alternately  with  either 
parent ;  and  actually,  every  eight  days  the  children 
were  sent  backwards  and  forwards  between  father 
and  mother.  This  strange  arrangement,  which 
remained  a  mystery  to  their  young  hearts,  was  a 
perpetual  occasion  of  self-denial  and  self-govern- 
ment. They  dared  not  speak  of  either  parent  in 
the  presence  of  the  other  ;  and  the  constant  ex- 
change, now  from  severe  religious  simphcity  to  all 
that  was  refined  and  intellectual  in  social  life,  and 
now  from  the  latter  to  an  almost  Moravian  soli- 
tude, must  have  promoted  in  the  minds  of  the 
daughters  an  early  development,  and  given  them  a 
strong  and  entire  dependence  on  each  other,  as 
well  as  on  themselves. 

In  their  earliest  years  the  children  hung  fondly 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  83 

on  the  mother,  whose  tears  they  vainly  tried  to 
wipe  away  when  they  left  her,  and  whose  sacrific- 
ing mother's  love  knew  no  limits;  but  as  they 
grew  older  they  found  opening  to  them  under  the 
father's  roof,  a  rich  school  for  the  cultivation  of 
their  higher  faculties,  to  the  value  of  which  they 
soon  became  sensible.  The  most  zealous  desire 
for  a  refined  culture,  especially  in  philosophy, 
poetry  and  the  arts,  filled  the  soul  of  their  father. 
Every  moment  that  he  could  win  from  his  duties 
as  a  servant  of  the  state,  he  devoted  to  the  culti- 
vation of  his  own,  and  his  daughters'  taste,  in  the 
beautiful  arts  of  poetry,  music  and  painting. 
Above  all  in  importance,  was  the  cultivation  of 
the  moral  purity  of  his  children,  whom  he  anxiously 
protected  from  the  influence  of  everything  low  and 
trivial.  He  provided  them  with  the  best  teachers, 
and  filled  his  house  with  paintings  and  other  of 
the  choicest  works  of  art.  Thus  was  finked  in 
their  opening  minds,  in  company  with  artists, 
learned  men  and  poets,  a  susceptibility  to  every- 
thing great  and  good,  which  in  this  family  was 
innate  and  true,  but  which  an  unsympathizing 
world  calls  transcendentalism,  when  affected  for 
purposes  of  vanity  or  display. 

Upon  minds  so  prepared  by  education,  the  ac- 
quaintance of  Jean  Paul  must  have  made  a  deep 


84  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

impression  ;  it  had  already,  in  that  evening  at  the 
York  Lodge,  woven  a  sweet  enchantment  about 
the  heart  of  CaroUne,  and  when  after  the  interval 
of  a  day,  in  which  her  imagination  had  dwelt  ex- 
clusively upon  him,  he  made  the  unhoped-for  visit, 
he  stood  near  her  as  a  being  that  she  must  regard 
with  almost  religious  veneration. 

A  report  had  been  spread  in  Berlin,  that  Caro- 
line was  about  being  betrothed  to  her  cousin ;  and 
Jean  Paul,  to  leave  her  entirely  free,  returned  to 
Weimar  without  any  express  manifestation  of  his 
wishes. 

His  image,  however,  was  interwoven  in  all  the 
social  enjoyments  of  the  family ;  but  Caroline's 
father,  with  a  quick  and  nice  sense  of  the  honor  of 
his  daughter,  had  coldly  and  severely  commanded 
that  there  should  be  no  reference  to  him.  The 
gossips  of  Berlin  spread  a  report,  that  Caroline  had 
kissed  the  hand  of  Jean  Paul  in  public,  and  the 
father,  jealous  of  the  slightest  shade  on  the  deli- 
cacy of  his  daughter,  forbade  her  to  speak  of  him, 
until  he  should  himself  make  some  more  decided 
demonstration  of  his  wishes.  This  command  was 
the  occasion  of  the  following  letter  from  Caroline 
to  her  father  : 

"  It  is  a  great  pity  that  we  cannot  receive  the 
noblest  and  best  among  men  with  interest  and 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


85 


warmth.  I  feel  indeed,  dear  father,  that  1  have 
thereby  lost  your  esteem.  It  pains  me  much,  but 
the  consciousness  alone  that  I  am  free  from  all 
enthusiasm  and  all  extravagance  in  esteeming  and 
admiring  such  excellence,  raises  me  in  a  certain 
degree  above  all  mortification.  Your  dissatisfac- 
tion with  me  arises  from  the  suspicion  that  some- 
thing different  from  reverence  has  taken  possession 
of  my  heart.  Did  you  know  how  pure,  how  inex- 
pressibly pure  my  interest  in  Jean  Paul  is,  a  man 
like  you  could  not  on  that  account  esteem  me  less. 
With  Leonora  in  Tasso,  I  can  say,  '  I  love  in  him 
only  what  is  most  excellent  and  most  exalted.' 
Ask  your  own  judgment,  whether  this  is  extrava- 
gance. Truly,  a  more  exalted  man  we  can  never 
meet. 

"  Perhaps  you  still  misunderstand  me.  I  must 
bear  it,  and  I  should  be  too  proud  to  justify  what 
I  think  and  feel,  to  any  other  than  my  father.  Of 
his  writings  permit  me  to  say,  that  the  influence 
they  exert  upon  me,  is  exactly  that  which  you  de- 
mand from  a  good  book,  namely,  to  be  made  wiser 
and  better.  Is  what  he  gives  me  unsound  ?  Its 
effect  then  must  be  as  wonderful  as  if  poison  in  a 
medicine  were  changed  into  a  heahng  blessing. 
I  have  indeed  become  better,  and  feel  within  my- 


86  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

self  the  power  to  improve.  This  meeting  has  been 
the  most  momentous  circumstance  of  my  hfe,  and 
I  know  nothing  except  this  emotion  in  my  heart, 
that  can  ever  make  me  happy  or  unhappy.  No- 
thing outward,  by  my  God,  nothing  that  men 
reckon  fortune  or  happiness,  can  charm  or  interest 
me  again  ;  and  if  Providence  should  prepare 
trials  for  me,  I  shall  not  be  unhappy. 

"  Owe,  a  sore  trial,  I  feel  it  deeply,  dear  father, 
is  the  doubt  of  your  love.  It  may  be  that  I  have 
deserved  to  lose  it ;  and  on  this  point  my  tears  of 
regret,  but  not  of  repentance,  must  flow  ! 

"  Never  was  I  less  excited  or  extravagant  than 
now.  Yes,  I  will  cherish  this  sentiment.  It  does 
not  injure  me  ;  I  will  conceal,  but  not  part  with  it. 
I  see  indeed  that  it  will  be  my  first  struggle,  to 
suffer  silently,  if  the  sanctuary  of  my  emotions  is 
violated.  The  warmth  with  which  I  have  written 
will  be  with  you,  dear  father,  my  apology  for 
writing." 

In  reading  this  letter,  in  which  Caroline  avows 
such  faith  in  Richter,  and  such  confidence  in  the 
truth  of  her  own  feelings,  we  must  recollect  that 
they  had  never  spoken  of  love,  their  eyes  had  met, 
and  her  destiny  was  decided  ;  and  if  Providence 
had  so  decreed,  that  they  had  never  met  again, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PA.UL.  87 

Caroline  would  have  mourned  him  in  widowhood 
of  heart.  In  the  same  happy  confidence  she 
wrote  to  her  married  sister  : 

''  I  believed  I  should  have  been  unhappy  when 
we  were  separated  ;  that  the  painful  reality  of  part- 
ing would  drive  me  from  the  ideal  height  to  which 
his  presence  had  elevated  me.  But  I  feel  a  cour- 
age and  power  to  bear  life,  such  as  I  never  felt 
before.  I  could  be  happy  without  ever  again  seeing 
him  in  this  life.'^ 

The  elevation  of  a  pure  and  ideal  love  is  here 
truly  expressed.  Caroline  felt  herself  raised  above 
the  accidents  of  life,  and  happy  in  the  ideal  pre- 
sence of  the  being  she  reverenced  above  all  others. 

But  Richter  had  not  left  her  without  some  slight 
intimation  of  his  wishes.  When  he  returned  to 
Berlin,  in  October,  Caroline  was  the  first  person 
informed,  by  a  few  lines,  in  which  he  asked  per- 
mission to  visit  her  family  that  evening.  Their 
hearts  had  spoken  too  truly,  for  them  to  be  longer 
silent ;  and  that  very  evening,  as  he  conducted 
Caroline  to  visit  her  mother,  his  tongue  was 
loosed,  and  their  destiny  forever  united. 

Early  the  next  morning,  kneeling  at  the  bed- 
side of  her  father,  and  whispering  in  his  ear  that 
Richter  had  spoken,  Carohne  asked  his  blessing 
on  their  love,  and  received  this  consoling  assur- 


C50  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ance  ;  "  My  child,  if  the  satisfaction  of  your  father 
can  add  anything  to  your  happiness,  beheve  me 
no  union  could  give  me  so  much  joy.  I  feel  it 
a  reward  for  all  my  care  of  your  education." 
Truly,  the  father  must  have  been  as  unw^orldly 
and  as  unselfish  as  the  daughter,  for  Richter  had 
not  the  prospect  of  a  dollar,  except  those  he  could 
coin,  as  Sir  Walter  Scott  said  in  another  case, 
"from  the  rich  mine  of  his  intellect,  and  stamp 
with  the  mark  of  his  genius."  It  must  be  ac- 
knowledged, in  a  worldly  point  of  view,  this 
connexion  appears  romantic,  if  not  imprudent. 
Caroline  had  been  educated  in  all  the  luxury  of 
refinement,  at  least  in  her  father's  house,  and  his 
fortune  depending  on  his  office,  he  could  give  his 
daughters  no  dowry.' 

^  Caroline,  although  educated  in  the  luxury  of  refinement, 
was  probably  accustomed  to  great  frugality  of  expense,  as  the 
salary  of  a  Berlin  Gehiemer-Rath,  is,  in  some  instances,  only 
two  thousand  florins.  Richter  says,  in  one  of  his  letters,  <' She 
is  cold  towards  all  ornament  in  dress,  but  not  to  the  necessity  of 
maiden  neatness,  and  on  my  account  she  puts  on  her  splendid 
new  blue  dress,  to  which  I  have  added  a  white  satin,  at  four 
Louis  d'ors,  together  with  a  hat  for  one  Louis  d'or.  I  wish  I 
could  hang  my  heart,  as  a  golden  ornament,  over  hers.  I 
would  draw  it  out  of  my  breast."  Richter  seems  to  have  had  a 
passionate  admiration  for  a  white  hat  and  a  black  veil,  for  a 
lady.     Clotilda's  hat  occupies  a  large  space  in  Hesperus. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  89 

Although  Jean  Paul  had  dedicated  his  Titan  to 
princesses,  they  had  given  him  nothing  but  empty 
praise  in  return.  In  the  correspondence  with  the 
Rath  Meyer,  not  a  word  is  said  of  property. 
Richter  says,  when  he  asks  the  father  for  his 
daughter ;...''  In  this  moment  of  my  great 
request,  all  other  things  appear  too  little  to  be 
touched  upon  by  either  of  us.  I  approach  the 
man,  for  whom  my  esteem  and  love,  even  without 
the  relation  I  desire,  would  be  almost  fihal ;  as  his 
feminine  tenderness  and  manly  philosophy  have 
together  nourished  the  root  of  this  beautiful  flower 
of  the  sun,  and  made  it  so  firm,  yet  so  tender. 
To  this  good  father  of  this  good  daughter,  I  pre- 
sent my  short,  but  weighty  prayer.  Let  her  be 
mine  !  she  will  be  happy,  as  I  shall  be  !  " 

Herr  Meyer  answered,  ''  That  it  had  been  the 
aim  of  all  his  plans,  in  the  education  of  his  daugh- 
ters, to  prepare  them  to  unite  themselves  to  such 
men  as  himself — and  that  he  gave  his  uncondi- 
tional consent."  The  mother,  also,  in  German 
phrase,  sent  her  ja-wort,  and  the  betrothing  of  two 
noble  hearts  took  place  immediately. 

Paul  had,  at  last,  in  his  thirty-eighth  year,  found 
the  ideal  of  female  perfection  and  lovehness  that 
had  always  haunted  his  imagination.  He  says ; 
^'  Caroline  has  exactly  that  inexpressible  love  for 


90  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

all  beings,  that  I  have  till  now,  failed  to  find  even 
in  those  who  in  every  thing  else  possess  the  splen- 
dor and  purity  of  the  diamond.  She  preserves  in 
the  full  harmony  of  her  love  to  me,  the  middle  and 
lower  tones  of  sympathy  for  every  joy  and  sorrow 
of  others." 

In  describing  her  to  Otto,  he  says,  ^'  She  has 
the  beauty,  rare  among  Germans,  of  a  dark  soft 
eye  and  Madonna  brow  "  — ''  self-sacrificing  love, 
without  equal ;  modesty,  openness  ;  and  in  the 
midst  of  the  purest  love  for  me,  her  heart  trembles 
at  every  sound  of  sorrow.  She  has  the  warmest 
friends  among  women  and  young  girls,  and  the 
innumerable  visits  of  congratulation  that  she  re- 
ceived at  the  news  of  our  Verlobung,  shows  how 
much  she  is  beloved  by  the  Berliners." 

We  have  no  means  of  forming  a  judgment  of 
Caroline  Meyer,  except  from  her  letters  to  Richter, 
which  have  all  the  simplicity  and  tenderness  of 
Klopstock's  Meta.  But  they  are  only  the  beauti- 
ful expression  of  a  submissive  tenderness,  and 
boundless  reverence.  The  letter  to  her  son,  which 
will  appear  hereafter,  discloses  independent  thought, 
and  is  altogether  of  a  higher  order.  Mrs.  Austin 
says,  "  It  is  the  habit  of  Paul's  countrymen  to  re- 
quire from  women  the  virtues  of  attached  and  in- 
dustrious servants,  rather  than  of  equal,  intelligent, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  91 

and  symps.ihing  friends  ;"  and  although  Jean  Paul 
in  so  many  places  in  his  works  protests  against 
this  tendency  of  his  countrymen,  and  pleads  most 
eloquently  for  the  emancipation  of  women  from 
their  state  of  servitude,  his  minute  directions  to 
Caroline  about  household  affairs,  whenever  he 
leaves  home,  look  as  if  he  had  readily  assumed 
the  manly  superiority  of  his  countrymen. 

Paul,  while  he  describes  in  SeibenJcas,  with  ex- 
quisite penetration,  the  miseries  of  an  ill-assorted 
union,  asserts  that  he  shall  be  "  happy  if  one  falls 
to  his  lot,  upon  whose  opened  eyes  and  heart  the 
flowery  earth  and  beaming  heavens  strike,  not  in 
infinitesimals,  but  in  large  and  towering  masses ; 
for  whom  the  great  whole  is  something  more  than 
a  nursery  or  a  ball-room  ;  one  who,  with  a  feeling 
at  once  tender  and  discriminating,  with  a  heart 
at  once  pious  and  large,  forever  improves  the  man 
whom  she  has  wedded."  ^ 

The  coldest  of  Richter's  biographers  speaks 
thus  of  Carohne  ;  "  Purity  of  mind,  unlimited  love 


■  I  fear  Paul's  Caroline  will  be  despised  by  the  fashion  of  our 
age,  if  I  should  translate  a  letter,  where  he  tells  Otto,  that  she 
ripped  a  dress  apart,  dyed  it  herself,  put  it  together  again,  and 
wore  it  the  next  evening,  in  a  large  party.  And  yet  her  father's 
house  was  filled  with  the  most  valuable  works  of  art,  and  Caro- 
line could  herself  read  Plato  in  Greek. 


92  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

to  her  parents  and  sisters,  and  benevolence  to  all 
mankind,  were  native  to  her.  She  added  inex- 
pressible reverence  for  Richter,  and  unconditional 
submission  to  his  wishes.  With  a  love  for  all  that 
was  beautiful  in  art,  she  had  very  moderate  views 
of  the  value  of  the  outward  in  life  ;  great  enthu- 
siasm of  feeling,  and  through  trial  and  experience 
a  penetrating  knowledge  of  the  world ;  but  with 
an  accomplished  education,  and  almost  unlimited 
resources  within  herself,  her  outward  life  and 
appearance  was  modest,  and  without  pretension. 
With  their  peculiar  education,  Caroline  and  her 
sisters  possessed  qualities  singularly  adapted  to 
form  the  happiness  of  domestic  life,  but  to  Caro- 
line only,  Providence  granted  this  satisfaction."  ^ 

^  The  eldest  sister  of  Caroline  had  been  already  three  years 
married  to  Carl  Spazier,  who  was  at  this  time  the  editor  of  a 
helles  lettre  newspaper  (Eleganten  Zeitmig,)  in  Leipzig.  After  a 
marriage  of  many  outward  difficulties,  he  left  her  a  destitute 
widow,  with  four  young  children.  She  entered  upon  the  thorny 
path  of  female  authorship,  and  continued  their  literary  journal. 
Jean  Paul  contributed  many  of  his  ephemeral  pieces  to  its 
pages,  and  Caroline  also  assisted  her  with  her  elegant  and 
graceful  pen.  The  author,  to  whom  I  have  been  indebted  in 
this  biography,  F.  Otto  Spazier,  is  her  son. 

The  youngest  sister,  Ernestine,  married  about  the  same  time 
with  Caroline,  to  August  Mahlman,  died,  after  a  few  years  of 
married  life,  of  a  broken  heart;  occasioned,  as  her  nephew  says, 
by  an  unfaithful  husband  and  a  childless  marriage. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  93 

She  was  marked  out  indeed  for  distinguished 
happiness,  and  the  biographer  goes  on  to  say, 
"  that  no  female  nature  could  have  resisted  Paul. 
The  enchantment  of  his  smile,  and  the  power,  the 
magnetic  influence  of  his  eye  —  the  inspiration 
and  elevation  that  was  enthroned  upon  his  brow ; 
the  musical,  but  touchingly  tender  intonations  of 
his  voice,  together  with  the  mystery  that  involved 
the  author  of  Hesperus,  who  was  thought  to  have 
lived  upon  a  solitary  island  ;  all  this  would  have 
given  every  woman,  without  exception,  to  his 
hand,  and  Caroline  had  the  felicity  to  be  chosen 
from  all." 

She  had  beside  the  happiness  of  being  chosen 
by  him,  the  guarantee  of  that  happiness,  from  the 
fact  that,  in  spite  of  the  seductions  that  had  sur- 
rounded him  at  a  time  when  the  bonds  of  do- 
mestic society  were  every  where  falling  loose,  he 
had  passed  through  all,  with  a  singular  purity  of 
life ;  among  all  the  women,  who,  as  his  biogra- 
pher says,  "  would  have  left  at  his  call,  lover  or 
husband,"  not  one  had  suffered  in  reputation,  on 
his  account.^ 


'  Such  enthusiasm  for  an  author  would  be  incredible,  had  we 
not  recently  seen  in  our  own  circle,  in  the  visit  of  Mr.  Dickens, 


94  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

the  enthusiasm  that  genius  alone  excites,  without  the  accessories 
of  fortune  or  rank,  or  any  claim  except  that  which  appeals  di- 
rectly to  the  heart;  the  delineation  of  human  affections,  and 
human  relations,  the  touches  of  nature  that  make  the  whole 
world  kindred. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


RICHTER  S    PETITION    TO    THE    KING    OF    PRUSSIA. 

MARRIAGE.  CAROLINE'S     LETTERS      FROM     WEI- 
MAR. 

Our  Richter  had  never  been  so  happy  as  ^  ^  jg^j 
the  few  months  after  his  betrothment  to  ^^^'^  ^' 
Carohne.  The  learned  and  social  circles  of  Ber- 
Hn  had  many  charms  for  him.  They  were  com- 
posed, as  he  says,  of  Jews,  ministers,  officers, 
learned  men  and  women.  Tieck,  Fichte,  and  the 
Schlegels  showed  themselves  so  friendly  that  he 
believed,  in  his  simplicity,  he  should  win  that  school 
to  himself.  The  merely  learned  only,  displeased 
him.  To  use  his  own  figurative  language  :  "  The 
roots  of  their  dry  deism  were  planted  in  sand,  and 
bore  only  withered  leaves  and  no  flowers ;  and  no 
breath  of  perfume  came  from  them."  But  he 
conceived  the  warmest  esteem  for  Schliermacher, 


96  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

whose  ^'  Reden  uher  Religion "  he  calls  "  an  in- 
spired and  inspiring  work,  a  simple  and  beautiful 
temple,  whose  contents  are  a  true  God's  service." 

At  this  time,  spite  of  their  philosophical  differ- 
ences, the  exalted  character  of  Fichte  attached 
Jean  Paul  intimately  to  him.  He  also  renewed 
his  acquaintance  with  Madam  von  Krudener. 

From  the  exciting  tumult  of  the  society  of  the 
great,  where  he  was  courted  and  admired,  he 
turned  with  a  sense  of  domestic  tranquillity  to  the 
quiet  circle  in  which  his  betrothed  moved.  This, 
from  the  circumstance  of  the  separation  of  her 
parents,  was  necessarily  limited,  although  they 
were  not  excluded  from  any. 

The  queen  had  presented  them,  through  the 
medium  of  her  brother  George,  upon  hearing  of 
the  betrothment  of  Richter  and  Caroline  Meyer,  a 
costly  service  of  silver  —  but  nothing  more  useful 
or  enduring  appeared  in  prospect. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  spring  returned  ;  but  with- 
out some  pecuniary  provision  Richter  could  not 
afford  to  remain  in  Berlin. 

"  Is  there  none,"  said  old  Gleim,  '^  is  there  none 
who  can  say  to  the  king,  we  must  keep  J.  P.  F.  R. 
in  Berlin.  He  does  you  honor,  and  will  bring 
money  into  the  city.     Is  there  none  who  will  be  a 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  97 

Colbert  ?  no  Scholenburg  ?  no  Hardenburg  ?  no 
Voss  ?  not  even  the  queen  ?  " 

Richter  at  last,  though  reluctantly,  addressed  the 
following  letter  to  the  king : 

"  May  your  royal  majesty  be  graciously  moved 
to  listen  to  the  prayer  of  a  man,  that  not  only 
from  dwelling  under  your  government,  but  from 
birth  and  disposition,  rejoices  in  the  happiness  of 
your  reign.  The  loss  of  my  father  was  never  to 
me,  but  through,  me,  supplied  to  my  family.  I  was 
already  a  writer  at  the  age  when  men  begin  to 
read.  Through  years  of  poverty  and  labor,  I  at 
last  won  a  hearing  from  the  public,  and  lately  a 
more  extensive  audience.  My  aim  has  been  to 
elevate  the  sinking  faith  in  God,  virtue,  and  im- 
mortality, and  in  an  age  of  egotism  and  revolu- 
tions, to  warm  again  the  cold  humanity  of  men's 
hearts.  As  this  object  has  been  dearer  to  me  than 
any  other  reward,  I  have  sacrificed  every  other ; 
time,  health  and  the  richer  winnings  of  other  pur- 
suits. 

''  But  now,  when  I  am  entering  upon  the  cares 
of  marriage,  where  my  own  sacrifices  should  not 
extend  to  another,  I  feel  excused  by  my  conscience 
if  I  petition  the  throne  (that  has  so  many  to  listen 
to,  and  to  make  happy)  that  I  also  may  be  ex- 
cused, if  respectfully  I  submit  my  prayer^     My 


98  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

gratitude,  and  joyful  sympathy  in  the  happiness  of 
my  country  will  be  the  same,  however  justice  and 
goodness  may  decide." 

The  king  in  answer,  gave  Richter  to  understand, 
through  one  of  his  courtiers,  "  how  much  it  had 
rejoiced  him  to  observe,  that  by  his  talent  and  in- 
dustry alone,  exercised  in  the  face  of  such  unfa- 
vorable outward  circumstances,  he  had  placed  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  literature  of  his  country. 
He  was  not  indifferent  to  literary  merit,  and  would 
be  glad  to  have  Richter  remain  his  subject ;  and  if 
any  vacant  prebend  should  offer,  he  would  remem- 
ber him." 

It  seems  to  us  almost  a  degradation  of  genius 
hke  Richter's,  that  he  should  have  petitioned  in 
vain  for  a  small  ecclesiastical  benefice,  for  (although 
some  humorous  letters  passed  between  him  and 
Otto  on  the  subject  —  Richter  saying,  "that  he 
should  place  watchmen  on  the  church  towers  to 
strike  the  last  hours  of  the  old  prebends,"  and  Otto 
answering,  "  that  they  were  always  long-lived,  few 
dying  under  a  hundred  years,")  he  received  no 
prebend.  He  would  have  been  fettered  also  under 
the  obligation  to  remain  in  Prussia.  Accordingly, 
on  the  27th  of  May,  after  a  private  solemnization 
of  their  marriage,  Richter  and  his  young  bride  left 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  99 

the  dust  and  noise  of  the  city  to  enjoy,  in  quiet  and 
without  witnesses,  their  long  dreamed-of  happiness. 

They  travelled  in  the  month  of  bloom  and  flow- 
ers over  the  beautiful  parts  of  Dessau,  visited  the 
Herders  in  Weimar,  and  then  went  to  Meiningen, 
where  Jean  Paul  anticipated  for  a  time  to  estabhsh 
his  "  Portative  Parnassus J^ 

Here  is  the  letter  of  Caroline  to  her  father,  a 
week  after  her  marriage. 

"Weimar,  June  3,  1801. 

"  I  write  to  you,  my  beloved  father,  for  the  first 
time,  from  the  most  charming  resting  place.  We 
arrived  last  evening,  about  8  o'clock,  after  the  most 
delightful  journey  that  was  ever  taken,  except  the 
pain  of  the  separation  from  you,  that  often  made  me 
insensible  to  many  lovely  spots.  But  the  care  that 
my  good  Richter  took  of  me,  and  of  everything 
that  could  touch  my  heart,  softened  my  emotions, 
gently  and  happily  !  Indeed,  there  are  few  such 
men  —  so  sympathising  and  attentive  to  the  smallest 
little  things,  and  to  all  the  actual  of  life. 

''  As  we  approached  Weimar,  my  heart  began 
to  beat.  The  place,  beautifully  surrounded  with 
hills,  lies  low,  and  we  look  from  above  all  over  the 
city.  It  is  larger  and  gayer  than  I  expected,  and 
there  is  much  life  and  joy  everywhere.  In  the 
morning  the  market  was  held  before   our  door, 


100  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

where  there  was  more  tumult  than  in  the  BerUn 
market,  and  the  music  at  the  Stadthause  imparts  a 
cheerful  gaiety  that  is  read  on  all  faces. 

"But  now,  the  most  delightful  thing  that  could 
have  happened.  As  soon  as  we  arrived  on 
Wednesday  evening,  we  went  to  Herder's.  It 
was  already  dark.  With  a  beating  heart  I  stepped 
into  the  sacred  house.  The  aged  mother  sat  in 
the  parlor  alone,  knitting.  Richter  opened  the 
door  quietly,  and  we  stood  before  her.  Her  sur- 
prise is  not  to  be  described.  She  looked  at  me 
with  astonishment  —  ran  to  call  all  the  house  to- 
gether—  turned  back  —  and  knew  not  what  to  do 
for  joy.  Now  while  we  debated  whether  Richter 
alone,  or  whether  we  should  both  go  up  to  the 
Herders  at  once,  the  venerable  man  stood  in  the 
door.  I  discovered  him  first.  '  There  he  is,'  I 
said  with  emotion.  He  stepped  calmly  near,  and 
turned  me  with  penetrating  eyes  towards  the  light, 
and  as  he  looked  fixedly  at  me,  '  God  be  praised,' 
he  said,  '  I  am  now  satisfied.'  He  was  surprised  ; 
he  had  formed  no  image  of  me,  and  he  doubted 
whether  Richter  would  be  happy.  He  loves  me 
now  equally  with  him,  and  he  was  as  much  moved 
as  a  father  who  has  found  his  lost  children.  He 
went  in  great  emotion  up  and  down  the  apartment 
—  then  he  came  again  to  me,  and  said  with  touch- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  101 

ing  tenderness,  '  yes,  you  are  what  he  must  have  — 
you  need  not  speak,  we  see  already  all  1 '  I  was 
so  much  affected,  that  I  could  say  nothing,  and 
the  evening  passed  like  a  quiet  festival. 

^'  I  tell  you  all,  my  dear  father,  for  Richter 
wishes  it,  just  as  it  happened,  for  it  will  make  you 
happy  to  know  your  daughter  so  beloved  ;  and 
principally,  that  we  both  know  from  this  sympathy 
how  much  Richter  deserves  to  be  loved. 

''  This  is  infinite  —  here  is  his  home.  Father 
and  mother  dwell  with  the  deepest  warmth  upon 
what  he  mutually  feels  for  them,  and  he  appears 
more  splendid  to  me  than  ever.  Indeed,  I  might 
from  this  moment  date  a  new  era  in  my  love. 

"  I  cannot  describe  Herder  to  you  ;  through 
Richter  you  know  enough  of  him.  He  goes  qui- 
etly in  and  out,  so  reflective,  so  serious,  so  harmo- 
nious, so  gentle  and  musical  his  voice,  his  dress 
so  patriarchal.  He  does  not  affect  me  as  other 
poetical  men,  as  notwithstanding  he  has  an  iron 
firmness  and  decision  that  makes  weakness  blush 
before  him,  he  manifests  the  refined  politeness  of 
a  man  of  the  world,  without  being  insincere.  He 
has  so  much  dignity  as  not  to  pardon  the  slightest 
insult,  because  he  esteems  the  dignity  of  human 
nature,  not  on  account  of  his  individual  worth,  for 


102  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

he  is  so  modest  that  he  veils  his  eyes  Hke  a  young 
girl  who  is  praised  for  the  first  time,  if  his  own 
merit  is  spoken  of. 

"  His  wife  has  far  exceeded  my  expectations. 
She  has  not  the  masculine  form,  but  only  the 
manly  soul  that  I  anticipated.  She  has  risen  with 
her  husband,  but  she  stands  firm  by  herself.  She 
is  equally  acquainted  with  ancient  and  modern 
literature,  speaks  decidedly  upon  all  the  sciences, 
but  inclines  herself  in  a  loving,  modierly  manner 
to  me.  In  her  house  she  is  very  active  and  busy, 
but  without  littleness.  A  certain  well-to-do- 
ness  rules,  without  luxury.  The  apartments  are 
simply,  but  cheerfully  furnished.  At  the  table 
everything  goes  on  quietly,  without  anxiety  in  the 
hostess ;  the  old  servants  are  well  trained,  moving 
reverently  about,  observing  attentively  the  master's 
wishes.  They  will  hardly  let  me  part  from  them, 
but  we  are  so  inexpressibly  happy  in  the  little 
quiet  apartment  with  Richter's  old  hostess,  that 
we  would  always  rather  remain  alone.  So  happy 
as  I  am,  dearest  father,  I  never  believed  I  should 
be.  Every  minute  binds  our  souls  closer  to  each 
other.  It  will  sound  extravagant  to  you  if  I  say, 
the  high  enthusiasm  which  Richter  excited  in  me, 
has  continually  risen  as  we  have  entered  into  real 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  103 

life  together.  Never  can  a  misunderstanding  arise 
between  us.  My  mind,  through  love  and  the 
highest  goodness  is  so  tenderly  tuned,  and  my 
sense  of  obligation  so  elevated,  that  I  never  as 
formerly  despond.  Hovv  could  I  place  my  will 
in  opposition  to  this  splendid  humanity  that  works 
only  through  love  and  humility.  Thank  God,  I 
have  a  husband  witli  whom  love  in  married  hfe 
can  only  take  the  path  of  honor  and  morality  ;  one 
that  I  must  obey,  as  we  obey  virtue  itself.  And 
this  man  so  loves  me  !  that  I  have  nothing  to  wish 
but  that  we  may  die  together.  I  press  myself  to 
your  heart." 

It  is  but  just,  although  at  the  risk  of  satiety,  that 
the  reader  should  also  learn,  from  Richter  himself, 
the  perfect  happiness,  that  he  imparts  to  Otto,  thus 
unreservedly. 

"  That  the  brightest  and  purest  fountain  of  love 
to  mankind  takes  nothing  from  love  to  the  indi- 
vidual, I  learn  from  my  Caroline.  Every  day  it 
becomes  more  expansive.  Rare  as  beautiful  is  her 
adoration  of  the  spiritual,  of  poetry  and  nature  ; 
wonderful  her  disinterestedness  and  complete  ab- 
negation of  self.  There  is  nothing  that  she  would 
not  do  for  me,  or  others.  World-long  cares  are  to 
her  nothing,  as  her  industry  and  love  of  duty  are 


104  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

infinite.    As  she  loves  me,  she  loves  all  my  clothes, 
and  would  make  them  all  herself. 

^'  As  yet  we  have  had  nothing,  or  only  very 
little  to  irritate.  I  cannot  say  that  I  am  satisfied, 
but  I  am  certainly  blest.  Ah,  see  her !  What  are 
words  !  Marriage  has  made  me  love  her  more  ro- 
mantically, deeper,  infinitely  more  than  before  ! " 


CHAPTER   VIII. 


RESIDENCE      IN     MEININGEN.  LETTERS.  BIRTH 

OF    RICHTEr's    first    child. dog's    PETITION. 

As  soon  as  our  Richter  and  his  bride  had  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
accomphshed  what,  in  modern  phrase,  is  ^^^'^  ^^' 
called  the  bridal  tour,  they  hastened  to  the  enjoy- 
ment, of  what  had  always  been  his  ideal  dream, 
complete  social  independence,  in  immediate  union 
with  nature.  His  inclinations  drew  him  to  Bay- 
reuth  to  be  near  his  friend  Otto  ;  but  he  felt  almost 
a  maiden  diffidence  to  expose  the  intoxication  of 
his  love,  in  the  first  year  of  his  married  life  to  his 
old  female  friends.  He  wished,  also,  until  the 
Titan  was  completed,  to  be  near  the  accessories  of 
princely  life,  which  the  httle  court  of  Meiningen, 
retired  as  it  was,  could  furnish. 

They    established    themselves    in    Meiningen, 
therefore,  and  here  Jean  Paul  began  that  domes- 


106  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

tic  Still  life,  that  remained  uninterrupted  till  the 
day  of  his  death. 

A  letter  from  Caroline  to  Otto,  a  few  days  after 
their  entrance  into  their  new  abode,  shows  the  del- 
icacy and  tact  of  the  woman,  who  felt  that  she  had 
almost  taken  the  place  of  her  husband's  friend  in 
his  heart. 

"  '  When  you  have  taken  your  seat  at  Meinin- 
gen,  I  shall  step  from  mine  and  go  to  you.'  So 
you  write  to  us.  Richter  has  already  estabUshed 
himself,  and  waits  for  the  beloved  Otto  to  make 
the  promise  true,  and  come  and  fall  upon  his  heart. 
My  husband  leaves  the  invitation  to  me,  and  the 
information  that  we  are  ready,  and  that  you  can 
now,  without  any  hindrance,  accept  it. 

"  Our  young  furnishing,  now  five  days  old,  has  a 
thousand  wants ;  yet  you  will  find  Richter's  cham- 
ber ordered  after  the  old  fashion,  as  he  has  altered 
nothing,  and  you  will  feel  at  home.  *  Mine  is  also 
domestic  and  friendly  —  yours  alone  is  wholly 
poor,  that  you  may  not  remain  there  long,  but  be 
always  ready  to  come  to  us.  I  am  a  docile  being, 
and  will  always  exactly  obey  your  wishes.  You 
shall  arrange  all  after  your  own  domestic  order. 
We  will  be  melancholy  or  gay,  and  we  will  cele- 
brate our  second  marriage-day,  when  our  union 
through  the  presence  of  our  friend,  is  first  truly 
consecrated. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  107 

"  Rest  is  inexpressibly  welcome  to  my  husband 
after  a  three  weeks'  journey.  We  suffered  our- 
selves to  be  detained  fourteen  days  in  Weimar, 
for  the  sake  of  the  charming  little  dwelling  of  the 
good  hostess,  and  through  the  love  of  the  Herders. 
In  Gotha  we  received  Schlichtgeroll's  hearty  greet- 
ing, and  the  following  evening  we  selected  a  little 
dwelling  in  Meiningen,  where  we  could  unpack. 
Now  we  only  wait  for  the  rising  of  the  sun,  and  the 
appearance  —  dare  I  say  it  —  of  o?/r  friend." 

A  letter  from  Paul,  of  a  later  date,  to  the  same 
friend,  completes  the  picture  of  domestic  life. 
'^  My  Caroline,  who  wins  the  love  of  all  —  of  the 
men  by  her  beauty,  and  of  the  women  through 
her  enchanting  truth  and  goodness,  constrains  me, 
by  happiness,  to  be  contented  here.  We  have  the 
whole  place  for  friends.  Her  indeed,  too  great 
indifference  to  outward  life,  her  absorption  in  quiet 
employment,  her  heavenly,  faithful,  virgin  love,  her 
unconditional  compliance  with  my  lightest  wish, 
makes  our  love  yet  younger  and  fresher  than  in 
the  beginning,  when  it  was  merely  young.  That 
you  will  fall  in  love  with  her,  is  only  too  certain. 
I  feel  that  marriage  is  something  holy  and  heav- 
enly. .  .  . 

"  As  yet  I  find  no  trouble.  If  I  have  a  guest,  I 
seem  to  sit  here  as  a  guest  myself,  so  elegantly 


108 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


and  completely  my  Caroline  knows  how  to  order 
every  thi  ig.  You  cannot  know  the  whole  value 
of  a  married  union,  as  you  have  always  lived  with 
sisters,  and  never,  like  myself,  alone. 

"  The  whole  of  the  next  month  will  be  beauti- 
ful. God  send  me  you  or  Emanuel,  or  I  shall  go 
to  you  in  the  autumn  with  Caroline." 

A  letter  from  Caroline  to  her  father  follows: 
— ''  O  my  best  father,  how  do  I  thank  you  that  you 
have  at  length  written  !  I  was  on  the  point  of 
writing  again.  My  husband,  as  we  sat  together, 
was  speaking  of  the  incomprehensibility  of  your 
silence  —  ^  Could  there  be  a  letter  mislaid  ? '  when 
the  maid  brought  in  yours,  and  that  of  Gretchen's. 
With  how  many  tears  have  I  read  the  dear  words. 
I  live  so  simply  calm,  that  I  hold  fast  every  thing 
that  was  ever  dear  to  me  —  and  your  image  !  how 
it  takes  hold  of  me.  How  often,  in  spirit,  do  I 
lean  upon  your  shoulder !  But  that  it  renders  me 
too  melancholy  for  the  happiness  of  my  beloved 
husband,  nature  often  makes  me  so  tender,  that 
in  very  longing  after  you  and  my  mother,  I  should 
sometimes  weep. 

''  I  came  here  with  uncertain,  timid  expectations. 
The  duchess  of  Meiningen  received  us  with  ex- 
treme joy,  and  showed  us  many  houses ;  but  this 
made  me  really  melancholy,  and  the  first  night  I 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  109 

slept  not  at  all,  for  all  my  fine  dreams  of  domestic 
economy  were  destroyed.  This  little  city  is  not 
so  ideal  as  I  had  imagined  ;  few  of  the  houses 
have  gardens,  and  only  very  small  courts.  The 
rooms  are  large,  with  many  windows,  and  very 
high. 

"  In  the  morning  we  went  in  pursuit  of  cheaper 
and  more  simple  dwellings,  and  were  so  happy  as 
to  find  one,  isolated,  but  with  very  respectable 
domestic  conveniences.  As  quickly  as  possible 
we  were  in  it.  My  helpful,  never-failing  good- 
humored  husband  arranged  his  own  chamber,  I 
mine,  and  thus  we  were  at  the  end  of  the  first  day 
apparendy  in  order.  The  rest  I  could  complete 
with  all  leisure,  and  now  the  clock-work  of  our 
little  domestic  life  goes  on  without  stopping.  Our 
maid  is  active,  and,  1  hope,  good. 

''  My  husband  is  perpetually  satisfied  with  all 
as  it  is,  and  I  form  myself  so  wilhngly  after  his 
wishes ;  that  in  my  heart  I  feel  the  intimate  and 
sweet  conviction  that  I  can  be  to  him  all  that  he 
needs.  Let  me  repeat,  that  I  am  every  day  hap- 
pier —  there  is  nothing  without  or  within  to  dis- 
turb us.  Now  when  the  moments  of  enthusiasm 
are  over,  you  will  believe  that  my  judgment  is 
sound.  Richter  is  the  purest,  the  holiest,  the 
most  godlike  man  that  hves.     Could  others  be  ad- 


110  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

mitted,  as  I  am,  to  his  inmost  emotions,  how  much 
more  would  they  esteem  him.  There  are  moments 
when  my  soul  lies  kneeling  before  him,  and  I  fear 
only  death.  Every  one  finds  him  stronger  and 
fresher.  He  is  also  calmer  than  he  was  in  Berlin, 
and  his  life  is  more  regular.  We  rise  about  six, 
and  dine  at  twelve  o'clock.  At  the  latest,  Richter 
goes  to  bed  at  ten.  From  principle  and  economy 
he  has  left  off  wine,  and  drinks  only  beer.  He  is 
in  every  thing  at  the  same  time  so  kind  and  so 
firm " 

The  reader  will,  perhaps,  think  there  is  too 
much  of  these  domestic  letters  —  but  how  beauti- 
fully are  they  the  unstudied  expression  of  that 
chaste,  meek,  and  enduring  love  that  belongs  al- 
most exclusively  to  domestic  life,  in  which  Caro- 
line's heart  was  nourished,  as  the  flowers  are  fed 
from  the  light  and  the  dew  of  heaven. 

Only  one  more  letter  of  this  period  shall  find  a 
place  here.  It  is  a  little  note  that  Caroline  wrote 
to  her  husband  when  he  had  taken  a  short  journey 
to  Leibenstein.  It  was  their  first  separation,  and 
in  answer  to  a  line  from  him.  ''  Ah  !  could  I  fall 
on  thy  heart,  and  thank  thee  that  thou  hast  thought 
of  me !  I  stood  exactly  in  the  same  place  on  the 
floor,  covering  the  little  Sjnnde  with  gauze,  when 
your  letter  came.     As  you  left  me  yesterday  in 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  Ill 

the  carriage,  it  seemed  to  my  childish  fancy  that 
the  stranger  Jean  Paul,  that  did  not  belong  to  me, 
sat  there,  and  how  deserted  I  felt,  all  was  so 
empty  and  void.  I  stifled  my  regret,  and  went 
into  your  chamber,  and  put  every  thing  in  order. 
Your  handkerchief,  just  left,  had  yet  some  warmth 
in  it,  and  I  took  it  with  me.  Then  I  had  nothing 
more  to  care  for,  and  I  felt  a  great  loneliness.  I 
took  up  the  unbound  part  of  Titan,  and  have,  in- 
deed, read  it  wholly  through.  How  often  did  I 
sink  at  your  feet  as  I  read,  and  I  looked  opposite  to 
your  sofa,  as  if  my  voice  would  reach  you.  Ah,  I 
do  not  deserve  you,  and  am  in  myself  nothing, 

"  Today  I  wrote  letters.  It  is  wonderfully  still 
in  our  quiet  dwelling.  No  one  has  been  here,  and 
only  the  newspaper  yesterday.  In  the  cellar  all 
stands  in  military  order.  It  gives  me  joy  to  obey 
you  when  you  are  distant.  How  heavenly  will 
our  meeting  be. 

"  God  take  thee  into  his  holy  protection.  May 
the  sunbeams  kiss  thee,  and  I  be  worthy  to  de- 
serve thy  heart.   Farewell  I  my  soul,  my  heaven  !  " 

The  eighteen  months  Richter  passed  at  Mein- 
ingen,  flowed  with  that  quiet  uniformity  that  Caro- 
line loved  no  less  than  her  husband.  Jean  Paul 
was  so  much  sought  after  by  the  duke,  that  Caro- 
line mourns  over  his  too  frequent  absences  from 


112  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

her ;  and  Paul  writes  to  Otto,  "  I  never  believed 
that  a  prince  would  be  my  friend  —  but  the  duke 
is  nearly  that,  although  I  refuse  his  frequent  even- 
ing invitations,  sometimes  as  many  as  six  in  a 
week.  He  comes  to  us  often,  and  lately  he  dined 
with  us.  He  would  build  me  a  house  here,  which 
God  forbid,  as  I  seek  no  eternity  in  Meiningen.'' 

In  the  winter  of  this  year  Paul  went  with  the 
duke  to  Oberland  in  a  sleigh.  In  Newhouse,  he 
says,  they  gave  us,  in  an  amateur  theatre,  a  comedy 
by  four  peasants.  ''  It  was  performed  three  times 
in  the  day,  as  the  place  was  too  small  to  admit 
many,  and  the  old  company  went  out,  as  fresh 
came  in.  From  time  to  time,  as  the  duke  and 
the  prince  of  Hesse  Philipsthal  sat  among  the 
peasants,  a  jug  of  good  beer  was  passed  backwards 
and  forwards,  from  which  all  drank  in  turn." 

One  letter  more  from  Meiningen,  of  Septem- 
ber, 1802,  and  we  close  this  chapter. 

"  Dear  old  friend.  Your  expressions  over  my 
wife  touched  me  deeply.  You  should  have  had, 
as  of  a  princess,  the  diarium  of  her  double  hfe  — 
but  indeed  it  lasts  no  longer.  This  very  night  she 
had,  with  her  still  continued  blooming  health,  pains 
that  prevented  sleep.  In  the  morning  the  mid- 
wife (an  accomplished  one  from  Jena,)  declared 
that  in  two  hours  the   birth   would  take   place. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  113 

About  eleven  o'clock  it  was  followed  by  a  godlike 
little  daughter.  Heavens  1  you  will  be  as  trans- 
ported as  I  was,  when  the  nurse  brought  me,  as 
out  of  a  cloud,  my  second  love,  with  the  blue  eyes 
wide  open,  a  beautiful  high  brow,  kiss-lipped, 
heart-touching,  and  with  the  little  nose  of  my 
Caroline. 

"  God  is  near  at  the  birth  of  every  child.  Who 
does  not  find  him  in  this  incomprehensible  mechan- 
ism of  pain,  in  this  sublimity  of  his  exquisite  ma- 
chinery, in  this  prostration  of  our  own  independ- 
ence, ivill  never  find  him.  1  concealed,  to  spare 
my  wife,  as  well  as  I  could,  my  weeping  admira- 
tion, but  she  perceived,  and  returned  much  of  it. 
In  my  solitary  apartment  I  had  (ah,  how  I  wished 
for  you  or  Emanuel,)  only  my  own  rapture,  and 
God,  and  my  hound. 

"  It  is  a  large  child,  splendidly  formed,  wholly 
like  myself,  which  rejoices  my  Caroline,  but  I  hold 
modestly  back  from  the  little  nose.  Only  on  her 
account  did  I  wish  for  a  boy  —  but  I  tell  her  a 
girl  will  be  dearer  to  me,  as  our  parental  education 
would  not  wholly  answer  for  a  boy,  but  for  a  girl 
it  will  be  every  thing ;  and  with  this  pure,  firm  and 
enlightened  mother,  she  can  be  nothing  less  than 
a  second  diamond. 


114  LIFE  OF  JEAN  PAUL. 

"Now  is  all  again  well  with  me  —  and  the 
world  and  heaven  are  open,  and  I  have  my  wife 
again.  In  the  midst  of  her  pain  she  yet  brought 
me  my  breakfast  this  morning.  Ah,  how  do  I 
again  learn  to  esteem  and  pity  the  poor  women. 
I  have  the  best  people  about  me  —  the  pastor's 
daughter,  without  equal  —  the  honest  waiting 
woman,  &c.  Let  me  prattle,  good  old  friend,  to 
you  and  Amone  —  you  are  the  first  listeners. 

''  To-day  I  went  to  the  duke,  and  asked  him  to 
give  a  title  to  the  fairest  work  I  should  ever  give 
to  the  public.  He  answered,  '  Georgine.' '  Truly, 
he  sympathizes  kindly  with  human  feehngs." 

Caroline  added  to  this  letter,  with  the  child  on 
her  left  arm.  ''  Beloved  Otto !  who  is  so  blest  as 
I  ?  with  two,  so  dear,  to  love  !     C." 

One  other  little  incident  belongs  to  the  Mein- 
ingen  residence.  On  account  of  the  hunting  sea- 
son all  the  dogs  of  citizens  were  put  under  arrest. 
Richter,  in  his  attachment  to  these  faithful  friends 
of  man,  if  not  in  some  other  characteristics,  resem- 
bled Scott,  and  was  always  accompanied  in  his 
rambles  by  one  or  more  dogs.  Upon  the  decree 
of  arrest  being  published,  he  sent  his  hound  to  the 
duke  with  the  following  petition : 

'  George  was  the  prince's  own  name. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  115 

''  That  I  may  accompany  my  master,  when  he 
goes  to  Welkershausen  or  to  Grimmathal. 

"  I  can  bring  attestation  from  my  master  that  I 
understand  as  little  of  hunting  as  he  does,  and  that 
I  keep  close  behind  his  stick  in  all  his  rambles. 
And  the  only  game  that  I  permit  myself,  is  what 
the  government  advertiser  recommends,  sometimes 
a  poor  field  mouse. 

"  That  I  shall  lose  my  bread  if  my  master  dare 
not  place  me  outside  his  door,  where  is,  indeed, 
my  only  station.  I  constitute  his  animal  establish- 
ment ;  his  poultry,  his  pheasantry,  and  his  body 
guard.  You  love  him  half  as  much  as  he  does 
you,  and  often,  when  you  have  been  with  him, 
you  have  had  the  grace  to  stroke  me,  poor  hound, 
and  to  say,  '  Come,  Spitz  ! '  Thus  will  I  confide 
in  my  fortunate  dogstar,  that  it  will  permit,  be- 
fore 1  am  cut  into  shoes,  and  worn  on  the  feet  of 
others,  that  I  may  appear  before  your  gracious 
presence  upon  my  own." 

The  petition  was  granted,  and  Paul  was  per- 
mitted to  keep  his  dog. 

At  the  same  time  with  the  poet's  first  child,  the 
last  volume  of  Titan  was  given  to  the  world.  It 
had  been  ten  years  in  progress,  and  during  that 
time  the  author  had  printed  several  minor  works. 


CHAPTER  IX, 


TITAN. 


I  APPROACH  this  great  work  with  diffidence,  with 
real  humihty,  and  feel  that  I  am  entirely  incompe- 
tent to  give  to  the  English  reader  a  just  idea  of  a 
work  so  thoroughly  German,  so  difficult  for  him  to 
appreciate,  and  yet  by  which  Jean  Paul,  if  he  is 
read  at  all,  is  usually  appreciated  in  this  country. 
In  speaking  of  it,  I  shall  be  somewhat  indebted  to 
the  author  from  whom  I  have  already  quoted. 

In  the  ten  years  during  which  Titan  had  been 
in  progress,  Jean  Paul  had  published  several  works, 
all  of  which  had  been  in  subordination  to  this. 
His  commentator  says,  "  that  of  this,  the  Invisible 
Lodge  was  the  cradle,  and  the  others,  as  they  fol- 
lowed, only  the  educators."  And  as  I  have  said 
before,  it  was  like  the  great  picture  to  which  all 
the  serious  and  sacred  hours  of  the  painter  are  de- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  117 

voted,  while  others  of  less  note,  take  up  his  casual 
moments,  and  are  the  nurses  of  the  inspiration 
that  is  lavished  upon  this. 

The  great  idea  of  Titan,  is  that  which  so  many 
poets  and  romance  writers  have  endeavored  to 
represent,  and  which  Goethe  has  so  nobly  evolved 
in  Faust  —  the  limitations  and  compensations  of 
life  —  that  all  power  as  soon  as  it  aims  to  exceed 
its  just  bounds,  breaks  down  ;  that  all  who  would 
violate  the  laws  of  eternal  justice,  necessarily  fail. 
Hence  the  title  of  the  book,  taken  from  the  con- 
test of  the  ancient  Titans  against  the  gods. 
"  Every  heaven  stormer  finds  his  hell,  as  surely  as 
every  mountain  its  valley."  In  Albano,  the  hero 
of  the  novel,  Richter  has  accomplished  the  object 
twice  attempted  before  without  success  (in  the  In- 
visible Lodge,  and  in  Hesperus),  through  birth,  ed- 
ucation, trial  and  experience,  to  form  a  perfectly  har- 
monious character.  '•  He  is  not,  like  Victor,  a  man 
seeming  and  feeling  only,  but  a  man  of  deeds,  and 
unites  with  the  highest  love  the  highest  sphere  of  ac- 
tion. He  is  not  merely  an  esthetic  example,  but  a 
real  character,  in  which  life  and  action  are  identified 
with  poetic  representation."  And  yet  he  does  not,  I 
think,  enlist  so  much  the  sympathies  of  the  reader 
as  Victor  in  Hesperus ;  his  treatment  of  Linda  is 
perhaps  too  harsh  and  stern. 

The  great  dissonance  in    Titan    has  probably 


118  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

prevented  many  from  going  beyond  the  first  vol- 
ume. During  the  composition  of  the  jfirst  half  of 
the  first  volume,  the  author  intended  to  give  it  the 
tragicomic  character  of  some  of  his  other  works, 
and  that  the  comic  should  enter  largely  into  its 
composition.  But  his  visit  to  Weimar,  and,  in 
consequence,  his  enlarged  range  of  characters,  es- 
pecially his  connection  with  Madam  von  Kalb, 
induced  him  to  change  his  plan  ;  to  make  it  a 
serious  romance,  and  reserve  the  satirical  and  comic 
elements  for  an  appendix.  Through  the  last  half 
of  the  first  volume,  he  is  apparently  contending  with 
the  witty  and  antithetic  manner  of  his  early  works. 
The  outline  of  the  story  is  this.  Two  German 
principalities,  Hohenflies  and  Haarhaar,  are  in  con- 
tention for  the  succession  —  each  has  a  supporter. 
Haarhaar,  the  German  gentleman,  Von  Bouverot, 
as  he  is  called,  a  gambler,  a  voluptuary,  but  con- 
noisseur in  art,  who  follows  Luigi,  the  pretended 
only  son  of  the  Hohenflies  prince  to  Italy,  and 
there  by  every  kind  of  excess  subjects  him  to  a 
lingering  dissolution.  The  supporter  of  the  Ho- 
henflies dynasty,  is  the  Knight  don  Gaspard  de 
Cesara,  who  in  addition  to  his  devotion  to  the  old 
prince,  the  father  of  Luigi,  is  influenced  by  per- 
sonal revenge  for  having  been  refused  the  hand  of 
a  Haarhaar  princess.  To  preserve  Albano,  the  se- 
cond son  of  the  old  prince  of  Hohenflies,  from  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  119 

arts  that  had  admhiistered  a  slow  and  consuming 
poison  to  the  Hfe  of  Luigi,  his  birth  is  concealedj 
and  he  is  educated  as  the  son  of  Don  Gaspard  ;  his 
parents  having  entered  into  a  bond  that  at  the 
death  of  Luigi,  the  claims  of  his  birth  shall  be 
established,  and  that  he  shall  marry  Linda,  the 
daughter  of  Don  Gaspard.  To  keep  up  the  de- 
ception, that  Albanoishis  son,  Gaspard  gives  him- 
self out  as  the  guardian  of  his  daughter  Linda. 
She  is  called  the  countess  de  Romero,  and  is  left 
in  Spain  with  her  mother,  where  every  thing  con- 
spires to  nurse  and  increase  the  eccentricity  and 
romantic  enthusiasm  of  her  character.  Her  mother 
soon  dies  :  Linda  is  left  without  female  influence, 
and  at  liberty  to  travel  wherever  her  love  of  inde- 
pendence leads  her.  She  accordingly  goes  to 
Switzerland,  and  there,  in  the  solitude  of  the 
mountains,  endeavors  to  establish  a  school  of  in- 
dustry and  innocence.  Not  succeeding,  she  re- 
moves to  Italy,  and  nourishes  her  passion  for  the 
beautiful,  by  living  in  the  midst  of  the  monuments 
of  art,  in  that  exquisite  climate. 

Albano,  whose  parents  were  travelling  at  the 
time,  was  born,  together  with  a  twin  sister,  at 
Isola  Bella,  where  he  remains  until  the  death  of 
his  mother,  in  his  third  year.  He  is  then  taken 
to  Germany  as  the  son  of  Don  Gaspard,  and  placed 
in  the  family  of  Wehrfritz,  the  provincial  director, 


120  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

as  their  foster  son.  He  remains  secluded  in  the 
country,  until  his  eighteenth  year,  and,  on  account 
of  his  resemblance  to  his  father,  the  old  prince,  is 
not  permitted  to  visit  Pestitz,  the  capital  of  Ho- 
henflies.  He  grows  up  a  powerful,  pure,  innocent, 
well  instructed  youth,  endowed  with  the  most 
brilliant  and  attractive  qualities,  and  with  a  beauty 
of  person  that  charms  every  beholder.  While  a 
country  recluse,  he  has  that  longing  for  love  and 
friendship,  the  intense  thirst  for  intercourse  with 
great  spirits,  that  Richter  makes  a  characteristic  of 
all  his  heroes ;  and  forms  in  imagination  an  attach- 
ment both  of  love  and  friendship  with  the  son  and 
daughter  of  the  court  minister  Frauloy,  through 
the  medium  of  their  instructers,  who  give  lessons 
at  the  same  time  to  all  the  young  people. 

Don  Gaspard,  with  his  knowledge  of  the  roman- 
tic character  of  Linda,  and  by  the  help  of  his 
brother,  an  alchemist,  ventriloquist,  juggler,  and 
liar,  makes  use  of  magical  means,  deceptive 
glasses,  and  voices  issuing  apparently  from  the 
clouds,  to  accomplish  his  object,  the  union  of  Al- 
bano  with  his  daughter ;  and  although,  from  con- 
sciousness and  pride,  (for  the  same  means  are 
practiced  on  Albano.)  they  avoid  each  other,  yet, 
when  they  accidentally  meet,  a  mysterious  influ- 
ence draws  them  irresistibly  together. 

Before  this  takes   place,  however,  the  death  of 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  121 

the  old  prince  and  the  elevation  of  Luigi,  although 
dying  slowly,  allows  Albano  to  go  to  Pestitz. 
With  his  fresh,  beautiful,  ingenuous  character,  he 
cements  his  secretly-formed  friendship  with  Ro- 
quairoL  the  son  of  the  minister,  and  his  love  for 
Liana  is  confirmed  by  her  beautiful  feminine  na- 
ture. The  first  love  of  these  young  people  is  one 
of  the  most  touching  episodes  in  all  Richter's  works. 
It  is  a  Romeo  and  Juliet,  WTitten  and  performed  in 
heaven.  Liana  is  one  of  those  spiritual  beings, 
with  angelic  souls,  and  almost  transparent  bodies, 
that  Richter  loved  to  draw  :  disinterested,  reli- 
gious, humble,  sacrificing  all  to  duty,  and  suffering 
without  a  murmur.  She  lives  one  fleeting  spring 
of  happiness,  in  which  her  love,  hidden  like  the 
perfume  of  the  violet  in  the  heart  of  the  flower,  is 
breathed  only  in  whispers  ;  and  when  opposed  by 
her  fiend-hearted  father  and  her  icy  mother, 
though  sensitive  as  the  wind-flower,  she  remains 
true  to  Albano,  and  will  only  renounce  her  love 
when  informed  of  his  royal  birth.  But  with  her 
love  she  renounces  life ;  and  the  death  of  the 
young,  usually  so  sad,  is  here  beguiled  of  melan- 
choly by  the  beautiful  mysticism  that  surrounds 
it  WMth  spiritual  existences,  and  clothes  Liana  with 
the  robes  of  angels,  before  she  leaves  her  mortal 
investment. 

Albano  is  taken  from  the  deathbed  of  Liana  to 


122  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Italy,  where  he  meets  Linda.  Through  various 
influences,  she  has  given  up  a  dazzhng  and  en- 
chanting being.  Albano,  rich  in  fancy  and  full  of 
lov^  for  all  that  is  beautiful,  is  instantly  captivated. 
The  character  of  Linda  is  said  to  have  been 
modelled  from  that  of  Madam  von  Kalb.  She  is 
bold,  proud,  free,  with  an  infinite  generosity  and 
nobility  of  soul.  Her  glowing  Spanish  heart  and 
Italian  imagination  have  never  been  restrained  by 
the  conventionalisms  of  courtly  society.  Like 
Madam  von  Kalb,  she  gives  way  to  fits  of  passion- 
ate jealousy  ;  like  her,  she  avows  the  peculiar  es- 
thetic philosophy  upon  love  — ''  that  love  needs 
not  the  bond  of  marriage,  that  like  an  iron  ring 
upon  a  delicate  flower,  checks  and  destroys  its 
tender  bloom."  She  has  also  Madam  von  Kalb's 
doubts  upon  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  even 
her  occasional  blindness,  which  in  poor  Linda  led 
to  such  fatal  consequences. 

Albano's  powerful  character  subdued  Linda's 
pride  ;  with  the  most  childlike  love  she  yielded 
her  independence,  and  her  haughty  nature  seemed 
to  melt  away  under  the  sun  of  love.  In  their 
various  journeys  in  Italy,  to  Iscliia,  Isola  Bella,  and 
the  palace  and  gardens  of  Borromeo,  Richter  has 
almost  surpassed  Madam  de  Stael.  These  glowing 
descriptions  are  more  unique  from  the  circum- 
stance of  his   never  having  visited  the  places  ;  he 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  123 

was  wholly  indebted  to  the  Duchess  Amelia  for 
the  perfumed  Italian  breath  of  the  whole,  which 
cold  reality  would  have  chilled. 

We  come  now  reluctantly  to  the  evil  genius  of 
the  romance,  Roquairol,  the  son  of  Froulay  and 
brother  of  Liana.  He  is  a  child  of  the  times,  a 
victim  of  the  vicious  institutions  of  society,  and  of 
an  unsuitable  education.  Richter  in  this  charac- 
ter has  furnished  us  with  almost  a  prophetic  exam- 
ple of  those  artistic  paintings,  of  which  we  have 
seen  so  many  since  his  death  ;  in  France  even  in 
the  times  in  which  we  live.  An  example,  where 
the  culture  of  the  mind,  without  the  attendant 
culture  of  the  heart,  is  carried  so  far  as  to  excite 
and  mislead  the  judgment  of  the  wisest.  An  asso- 
ciation of  intelligence  and  crime,  of  artistic  power 
of  the  imagination,  united  with  perversity  of  heart 
to  mar  and  destroy  all  the  beauty  of  the  painting. 
But  Jean  Paul  has  not,  as  other  authors  of  such 
characters,  painted  his  hero  half  angel,  half  devil ; 
he  has  made  him  wholly  hateful :  he  has  not, 
like  Lovelace,  the  charm  of  graceful  manners  ;  nor, 
like  Byron's  heroes,  the  attraction  of  personal  beau- 
ty ;  he  excites  no  sentiment  but  that  of  aversion, 
and  when  he  falls,  pity  even  cannot  regret  his 
fate.  At  the  age  of  twelve,  he  conceived  a  vio- 
lent passion  for  Linda,  and  attempted  even  then  to 
shoot  himself,  because  the  little  girl  turned  her 


124  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

back  upon  him  and  expressed  her  aversion.  Upon 
her  return  from  Italy,  and  when  Albano's  claims 
to  her  hand  were  acknowledged,  he  determined  to 
add  revenge  upon  Albano  to  the  fatal  resentment 
of  his  murderous  love.  A  slight  contest  arose  be- 
tween the  lovers,  occasioned  by  Linda's  quickness 
of  resentment,  and  Albano  absented  himself  for  a 
few  days.  According  to  a  psychological  law  of 
love,  Linda  is  now  more  tender  than  ever,  and 
her  cold  independence  melts  under  the  thought  of 
estrangement.  Roquairol  forges  Albano's  hand- 
writing, and  asks  for  an  interview.  Deceived  by 
his  counterfeiting  the  voice  and  dress  of  Albano, 
and  by  her  evening  blindness  ;  seduced  also  by 
her  own  views  of  love,  that  it  should  yield  all  with- 
out the  bond  of  marriage,  the  superb  and  proud 
Linda  surrenders  all  to  the  madness  of  Roquairol  I 

With  the  boldness  of  despair,  he  has  the  whole 
history  of  his  love,  and  its  catastrophe,  performed 
in  a  tragedy  he  had  already  written,  and  at  the 
end  of  the  fourth  act  shoots  himself.  Linda, 
crushed  in  body  and  soul,  retires  forever  to  her 
living  tomb  !  and  Don  Gaspard,  who  had  thought 
to  make  use  of  men  as  the  instruments  to  accom- 
plish his  ambitious  purposes,  disappears  from  the 
scene. 

But  the  romance  does  not  end  thus  tragically 
and  hopelessly.     Albano,  failing  twice  in  love  and 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  125 

twice  subdued  —  by  the  physical  death  of  Liana, 
and  the  moral  death  of  the  noble  Linda — rises 
again  above  his  fate.  The  death  of  his  brother, 
Luigi,  takes  place  at  this  moment.  Educated  as 
one  of  the  people,  and  prepared  to  regenerate  the 
corrupt  dynasty  to  which  he  belongs,  and  to  pour 
healing  streams  into  the  impure  society  of  the 
time,  he  ascends  the  throne,  and  becomes  a  bene- 
factor and  reformer. 

Idoine,  a  princess  of  Haarhaar,  who  had  made  a 
voluntary  vow,  never  to  marry  beneath  her  rank  ; 
and  in  a  Httle  province  of  her  own  had  created  a 
paradise,  where  pure  morals,  religion,  industry  and 
happiness  prevailed  ;  with  a  strong,  rational,  yet 
tender  and  beautiful  nature,  bears  also  a  striking 
personal  resemblance  to  Liana,  —  and  the  romance 
ends  with  her  union  with  Albano. 

This  is  a  rough  outline  of  the  plan  and  action  of 
Titan.  Within  it  revolves  much  that  is  great  and 
beautiful  and  touching  in  life ;  almost  all  the  er- 
rors, and  sorrows  and  pains  of  humanity  ;  love,  in 
all  its  forms,  from  its  delicate  fragrance,  like  that 
of  the  lily  of  the  valley,  to  the  volcanic  flame  that 
burns  and  destroys  ;  nature,  in  the  idyllic  simpli- 
city of  German  village  life,  in  ornamented  parks 
and  gardens,  in  Alpine  mountains,  and  in  the  in- 
toxication  of  spring  in  the  Italian   climate  ;  art, 


126  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

from  the  breathing  tones  of  the  flute  to  the  noble 
beauty  of  Grecian  sculpture  ;  poetry,  delicate 
irony,  hidden  satire,  and  broad  humor. 

Througliout  the  whole  work  an  elevated  poetic 
justice  is  preserved  ;  not  the  common  conventional 
justice  that  demands  vice  to  be  punished  and  vir- 
tue rewarded  in  this  world,  but  a  deeper  philoso- 
phy, in  which  the  mind  itself,  and  the  affections, 
though  crushed  and  disappointed,  are  their  own 
reward.  Thus  Albano,  twice  broken  hearted, 
stands  at  last,  great  in  himself  and  in  his  own  in- 
tegrity, with  the  bride  he  had  chosen  from  her  re- 
semblance to  his  first  love,  upon  the  elevation  his 
experience  and  trials,  and  his  own  great  qualities 
fitted  him  to  adorn. 

Liana,  the  humble,  pure,  gentle  being,  the  vic- 
tim of  an  unsuitable  education  ;  too  tender  for  the 
winter  of  this  rough  life,  is  happy  in  death,  because 
she  feels  that  Albano  will  be  thus  restored  to  his 
birthright,  and  by  a  beautiful  spiritual  mysticism 
she  will  still  be  the  protecting  guardian  of  her 
eartlily  love. 

It  is  only  against  the  fate  of  the  romantic  and 
proud  Linda,  that  every  reader  rebels.  Richter 
received  many  letters  entreating  him  to  alter  or 
avert  it.  Jacobi  even  threatened  him  with  the 
loss  of  his  friendship  if  he  left  her  under  the  sen- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  127 

tence  of  this  moral  death.  But  Richter  adhered 
to  his  purpose,  which  was,  to  give  a  lesson  of  hu- 
mility to  those  who,  strong  in  self-reliance,  throw 
aside  the  guards  of  custom,  the  sanction  of  laws, 
as  unnecessary  to  their  more  refined  and  spiritual 
natures.  But  Linda,  even  in  the  moment  of  her 
humiliating  grief,  is  consoled  by  the  momentary 
belief  that  Albano  may  be  her  brother,  and  that 
she  may  have  been  saved  from  a  deeper  and  more 
terrible  fate. 

Many  other  characters  revolve  around  these,  the 
principal  in  the  drama.  Schoppe,  the  former  Leib- 
geiber,  appears  again,  crazed  by  the  philosophy  of 
Fichte,  ever  accompanied,  and  trying  in  vain  to 
escape  from  his  Ich  (me)  ;  Dian,  a  Greek  artist, 
and  his  simple  and  affectionate  Greek  wife,  exist- 
ing in  an  atmosphere  of  beauty  ;  the  minister's 
lady,  cold  and  ascetic  ;  the  princess  bride  of  Luigi, 
a  malicious  and  heartless  coquette  ;  Spener,  the 
court  chaplain,  proud  of  his  sanctity,  and  of  his 
spiritual  power,  etc.  etc. 

The  four  volumes  of  the  Titan  were  printed  in 
three  successive  years.  Great,  indeed,  was  the 
disappointment  of  the  reading  public,  when,  after 
ten  years  of  expectation,  the  first  volume  made  its 
appearance.  The  discrepancy  between  its  first 
and  last  portions,  displeased  both  parties  of  Rich- 


128  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ter's  admirers.  Those  who  loved  Jean  Paul's 
earlier  manner,  were  disappointed  to  lose  it,  and 
the  admirers  of  his  serious  romances  were  dis- 
pleased at  the  intrusion  of  the  comic  into  this. 
The  second  volume,  containing-  the  episode  of 
Liana,  appeared  at  the  end  of  a  year,  and  was 
violently  condemned  as  sentimental,  mystical,  too 
much  in  the  style  of  the  fashionable  weeping  school 
of  fiction.  When  at  length  the  last  two  volumes 
came  out,  disclosing  the  moral  annihilation  of  a 
being  so  charming  to  the  imagination  of  every 
reader  as  Linda,  indignation  was  added  to  disap- 
pointment. Just  then  the  battle  of  Jena  occurred, 
and  more  important  concerns  took  its  place  with 
the  reading  public.  Like  all  really  great  works, 
Titan  has  survived  the  popular  disapprobation  ;  and 
the  more  it  is  read  the  more  it  will  be  acknowl- 
edged a  work  of  exalted  genius,  pure  morality,  and 
perennial  beauty. 

Spazier,  whom  I  have  so  often  quoted,  tells  us, 
that  in  the  last  weeks  of  the  poet's  life,  when  he 
was  engaged  with  him  in  a  revision  of  his  whole 
works  for  a  new  edition,  Richter  had  determined 
by  an  earlier  development,  and  more  psychologi- 
cal analysis  of  the  character  of  Linda  to  show,  that 
with  her  previously-formed  opinions  and  educa- 
tion, the  catastrophe   was  unavoidable.     And  to 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  129 

illustrate  more  fully  the  axiom,  "  that  character 
and  destiny  are  the  same  thing." 

How  much  it  is  to  be  regretted  he  did  not  live 
to  fulfil  his  intention  ;  that  an  author,  who  touches 
the  sick  heart  so  tenderly,  that  if  for  purposes  of 
art  he  must  lay  bare  the  inmost  recesses  of  weak- 
ness and  frailty,  covers  them  again  from  the  cut- 
ting air  of  scorn,  with  the  downy,  warm  breast  of 
pity  and  love,  should  have  left  a  passage  that  can- 
not be  read  without  deep  mortification  and  pain. 

The  coincidence  between  this  work  and  the 
Clarissa  of  Richardson,  is  remarkable.  The  ca- 
tastrophe similar.  One,  indeed,  induced  by  the 
lethargy  of  the  mind,  the  other  by  that  of  the 
physical  powers,  each  leaving  the  soul  unstained. 
In  both  instances  the  authors  were  assailed  with 
reproaches  and  letters,  entreating  them  to  alter  or 
conceal  the  fate  of  their  heroines,  but  each,  for 
purposes  of  higher  than  conventional  morality, 
adhered  inflexibly  to  his  original  plan.' 

•  The  machinery  of  ventriloquism  and  jugglery  introduced 
into  Titan  impairs  its  beauty,  confuses  the  attention  of  the 
reader,  does  not  help  the  development  of  character,  and  most 
readers  would  prefer  to  have  it  wholly  omitted. 

VOL.    II.  9 


CHAPTER   X. 


RICHTER  LEAVES  MEININGEN.  REMOVES  TO  CO- 
BURG. BIRTH  OF  HIS  SON. DEATH  OF  HER- 
DER.    "  FLEGELYAHRE."  BAYREUTH. 


A  D  1803  '^^^  work  that  succeeded  the  Titan,  the 
aged  40.  ''  Fkgehjahre,^^  is  perhaps  the  most  per- 
sonal of  all  the  works  of  the  poet.  While  writing 
it,  his  desire  to  return  to  the  place  of  his  birth,  the 
land  of  his  youthful  hopes  and  dreams,  became 
irrepressible. 

He  would  not  let  the  duke  of  Meiningen  be- 
come acquainted  with  his  wish  from  any  other  lips 
than  his  own ;  he  wrote  to  him,  therefore,  ''  that, 
like  wandering  rats  in  the  spring,  he  felt  an  irre- 
sistible instinct  to  move,  and  that  with  wife,  and 
child,  and  hound,  he  should  depart  in  May,  and 
draw  nearer  to  the  Fichiclgehirge.'''' 

The  duke  answered,  "  that  he  was  not  enough 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  131 

of  a  naturalist  to  understand  the  species  of  wan- 
dering rats  called  geniuses,  though  he  believed  he 
knew  one  genius  sufficiently  to  call  him  his  friend." 
He  gave  his  consent  with  extreme  reluctance,  and 
Paul  found  it  difficult  to  resist  his  earnest  entrea- 
ties, and  his  princely  ofter  to  build  him  a  conve- 
nient dwelling,  to  let  him  import  his  favorite 
Bayreuth  beer,  free  from  impost,  and  to  add  every 
new  book  to  his  library.  The  soHtude  of  Meinin- 
gen  oppressed  him ;  but  his  first  removal  was  only 
to  Coburg,  a  short  distance  from  the  prince,  and  a 
stage  nearer  to  the  attraction  of  the  mountain 
magnet,  and  the  friend  Otto. 

The  year  that  Richter  dwelt  in  Coburg  has 
been  passed  over  in  silence  by  his  biographers. 
No  reason  has  been  given  why  he  selected  this 
small  city,  and  there  appears  to  have  been  no  per- 
son there  who  could  lend  attraction  to  such  a 
residence.  But  it  was  marked  by  two  events  that 
affected  him  deeply,  the  birth  of  his  son,  and  the 
death  of  his  friend  Herder. 

This  last,  the  death  of  Herder,  cast  a  deep 
shadow  that  reached  him  and  his  domestic  joys. 
He  had  loved  and  reverenced  none  like  Herder, 
and  no  author  had  had  so  much  influence  over 
him.  Not  that  they  resembled  each  other  as 
authors,  but  the  same  deeply  religious  spirit  inspired 


132  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

them  both,  and  the  aim  of  both  was  to  build  up 
the  wavering  faith  of  the  age,  in  God,  virtue  and 
immortaUty. 

"  I  would  willingly,"  he  wrote  to  the  son  of  his 
dead  friend,  "  I  would  willingly  journey  to  his 
holy  sepulchre  to  renew  my  joyful  and  my  sad 
recollections  of  him.  But  with  wjiat  could  I  still 
my  grief  when  I  found  him  no  longer  there  ? 
Weimar,  or  rather  his  deserted  house,  has  made 
me  a  Jew,  who  can  remain  no  longer  in  the  city, 
but  must,  as  soon  as  he  inscribed  in  the  church- 
record  the  birth  of  a  child,  depart,  and  journey 
onward."  ^ 

The  residence  in  Coburg  was  also  marked  by 
the  publication  of  the  Flegelyahre.  Carlyle  says 
the  word  may  be  translated  "  wild  oats,^'  but  it 
seems  to  mean  the  same  as  "  Wanderyahre/^  or 
apprenticeship,  as  Goethe  uses  it  in  '^  Meister.'^ 

Like  most  of  the  romances  of  Jean  Paul,  espe- 
cially to  the  English  reader,  the  beginning  of  this 
work  will  be  strange,  puzzling,  and  apparently  ab- 
surd, and  he  will  be  tempted  a  hundred  times  to 
throw  down  the  book  in  despair  or  contempt ;  but 
he  will  be  well  rewarded  for  persevering  till  he 
finds  his  way  through  the  intricate  labyrinth  of  the 

'  See  Appendix,  No.  III. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  133 

introduction.  Paul  wrote  to  Otto  while  he  was 
writing  it,  "  I  work  now  with  inexpressible  plea- 
sure and  care  upon  the  history  of  my  brothers  — 
of  J.  P.  In  this  I  can  make  the  highest  satirical 
leaps,  and  its  objectivity  gains  by  them." 

It  is  said  to  be  the  most  personal  of  all  the 
author's  works.  In  it  he  has  represented  his  own 
already  so  often  mentioned  double  nature,  in  the 
personal  relations  of  Walt  and  Vult,  twin  brothers, 
nourished  by  the  same  mother's  bosom,  and  "  unit- 
ed in  such  a  manner  that  they  cannot  live  apart, 
and  yet  cannot  look  into  each  other's  eyes,  or  em- 
brace each  other.  They  are  opposite  magnets  that 
are  continually  drawn  to  each  other,  but  meeting, 
are  thrust  asunder  as  by  positive  and  negative 
electricity."  Walt,  —  the  earnest,  sentimental,  ideal 
enthusiast,  is  represented  as  anticipating  a  para- 
dise in  every-day  life,  surrounding  the  simplest 
scenes  in  nature,  and  the  most  common  people 
with  a  halo  of  poetic  glory  ;  from  his  simple  and 
absent  nature  knowing  nothing,  and  beheving 
nothing  of  craft,  or  cunning,  or  vice  ;  extracting 
delight  from  every  flower,  even  from  every  weed 
in  his  path,  —  is  twin-brother  to  Vult,  an  eccentric 
humorist,  a  musician,  ventriloquist,  an  exquisite 
mimic,  who  can  take  all  forms,  and  in  the  ine- 
qualities of  life  looks  with  penetrating  eyes  only 


134  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

on  the  meanest  side ;  knowing  too  well,  and  de- 
spising the  vices  of  hypocrisy,  he  dissects  and  tears 
to  shreads  every  tender  emotion,  delighting  only 
in  the  wildest  sport,  and  allaying  the  thirsting 
emptiness  of  the  heart  with  satire,  wit  and  humor. 
Each  seeks  to  gain  an  ascendency  over  the  other  — 
Walt  by  the  seducing  and  vanquishing  power  of 
pure,  disinterested  love ;  Vult  by  the  imposing 
ascendency  of  knowledge  of  society,  and  extensive 
worldly  experience. 

The  interest  of  the  book  consists,  first,  in  the 
psychological  relation  of  the  twins  to  each  other ; 
second,  in  the  severe  experience  of  life,  to  which 
the  angelic  and  poetic  nature  of  Walt  is  subjected  ; 
and  third,  the  resemblance  of  the  two  united 
brothers  to  the  double  nature  of  the  author.  Both 
born  in  humble  life,  the  good-for-nothing  Vult  is 
soon  enlisted  as  a  soldier  —  Walt,  whose  disposi- 
tion leads  him  to  the  clerical  life,  is  deterred  from 
entering  the  church  by  the  tears  of  his  mother, 
who  dreads  for  her  son  the  poverty  in  which  her 
own  life  has  been  passed.  His  father,  who  an- 
swers to  our  justice  of  the  peace,  educates  him  for 
a  notary. 

A  rich  and  childless  man,  the  Croesus  of  the 
village,  has  become  interested  in  Walt,  by  reading 
a  poem  of  his,  in  which  he  describes  the  happiness 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  135 

of  a  Swedish  Pastor's  life,  and  determines  to  put 
it  in  his  power  to  follow  his  inclinations,  by  making 
him  his  heir.  Yet  he  hedges  around  his  legacy 
with  such  conditions,  and  places  the  heir  in  such 
intricate  relations  with  avaricious  and  cunning 
executors,  that  the  reader  foresees  that  the  noble- 
minded  and  unsuspicious  Walt,  through  the  dream- 
ing and  unworldly  nature  of  the  poet,  will  sur- 
render the  whole  gift  into  their  hands.  By  the 
conditions  of  the  will  he  is  placed  in  various  rela- 
tions with  the  persons,  into  whose  hands,  for  every 
fault  he  commits,  he  forfeits  a  part  of  the  inherit- 
ance. His  experienced  and  worldly-wise  twin 
brother  Vult,  follows  him  as  his  shadow,  and  en- 
deavors to  protect  him  by  his  better  knowledge, 
and  cold  experience  of  the  world,  from  the  blun- 
ders of  his  unsuspicious  nature  ;  but  by  a  kind  of 
poetic  optimism,  Walt  converts  every  loss  into  a 
lesson  of  wisdom,  or  into  an  occasion  for  dis- 
closing his  own  unselfish  and  beautiful  nature. 

Unknown  to  each  other,  and  without  disclosing 
it,  they  both  love  the  same  excellence  in  the  beauti- 
fully feminine,  but  highborn  TVina.  Although  the 
helpless  Walt,  through  his  earnest  nature  and 
poetical  character,  touches  her  heart,  yet  without 
the  knowledge  of  life,  and  sagacity  of  his  brother, 
he  could  never  have  breathed  his  reverential  love 


136  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

into  her  ear.  Wina,  is  for  Walt  a  distant  star, 
which  he  may  love  and  worship,  but  never  reach. 
It  vi^ould  have  been  as  improbable  as  that  Jean 
Paul  should  himself,  marry  a  princess.  And  the 
reason  that  the  book  breaks  off  so  abruptly  is,  no 
doubt,  that  it  would  have  violated  all  probability, 
and  all  German  conventionalism,  to  have  brought 
Walt's  love  for  Wina  to  a  happy  termination  ; 
and  yet  a  poet  could  be  permitted  to  love  nothing 
inferior. 

This  was  the  first  work  that  Jean  Paul  began 
and  finished  immediately  after  his  marriage,  when 
he  had  obtained  the  object  of  his  lifelong  desires ; 
and  over  the  whole  work  is  thrown  the  charm  of  a 
serene  and  heavenly  twilight,  a  soothing  repose,  like 
the  disposition  in  which  it  was  written.  The 
Flegdyahre  is  the  truest  expression  of  the  inmost 
nature  of  the  poet  —  the  picture  of  his  hopes,  his 
longings,  his  griefs,  his  disappointments ;  and  it 
contains  his  views  upon  the  value  of  his  own  at- 
tainments, and  shows  their  discrepancy  with  the 
actual  world  in  which  he  moved  and  lived. 

By  a  German  critic,  it  is  said,  "  it  leaves  upon  the 
mind  of  the  reader  the  impression,  that  it  is  the 
most  artistically  faultless,  the  gentlest  and  most 
beautiful  of  the  peculiar  romances  of  Jean  Paul.'* 
For  many  long  years  Paul  cherished  the  illusion, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  137 

that  he  should  continue  and  complete  this  the  most 
faultless  of  his  works. 

This  seems  to  be  the  proper  place  to  introduce 
a  little  sketch  of  the  social  group,  in  the  midst  of 
which  Richter  passed  his  life  after  his  removal  to 
the  httle  city  of  Bayreuth,  "  little  city  of  my  hab- 
itation, which  I  belong  to  on  this  side  the  grave  !  " 
at  the  foot  of  the  Fichtelgebirge  on  the  south, 
which  took  place  this  year.  The  reader  will  recol- 
lect, perhaps,  the  introductory  sketch  of  the  sim- 
plicity of  manners  in  this  secluded  region.  Mod- 
ern improvement  and  refinement  must  have  been 
increased  by  Emanuel  the  Jew,  who  was  culti- 
vated and  beneficent,  a  patron  of  the  arts,  and 
who  lived  there  in  a  style  of  the  most  generous 
hospitality. 

In  the  Otto  family,  originally  from  Hof,  mar- 
riage had  made  many  changes.  Frederica,  Rich- 
ter's  pupil  and  friend,  had  married  Wernlien, 
the  pastor  of  Wonsiedel.  Frederica  seems  to 
have  been  one  of  these  women  without  fascinating 
qualities,  but  to  whom  every  one  turns  and  relies 
upon  in  times  of  difficulty  and  sorrow.  After  her 
marriage.  Otto  wrote  to  Richter  thus  :  "  Frederica 
writes  that  she  is  very  much  satisfied,  and  hves 
very  happily  with  Wernlien.  She  has  taken  the 
reins  of  housekeeping  completely  into  her   own 


138 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


hands.  All  is  furnished  and  ordered  after  her 
views,  and  she  does  not  let  the  remarks  of  others 
make  her  waver.  I  rejoice  that  she  has  begun  in 
this  way,  because  the  disagreeables  of  her  situa- 
tion will  be  softened  thus,  if  not  destroyed,  and 
this  firmness  of  hers  is  the  only  way. 

Of  Otto's  own  marriage,  he  gives  Richter  the 
following  simple  and  naive  account.  He  had  long 
been  betrothed,  which  in  Germany  is  the  more  pub- 
he  marriage,  to  Amone  Herold,  whose  home  is  often 
mentioned  as  uncomfortable  and  uncongenial,  and 
to  whom  Richter,  in  a  dehcate  manner,  had  fre- 
quently conveyed  advice  and  consolation. 

'^  The  last  day  of  June  was  my  marriage-day  ; 
no  one  had  been  informed  that  it  was  to  take 
place.  At  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  went 
alone,  as  we  wished,  into  the  church.  We  were, 
believe  me,  through  our  own  reflections,  more 
elevated  than  we  were  by  the  mechanical  exhorta- 
tions of  old  R.  I  took  in  imagination  thee  with  us, 
even  into  the  sacristy,  where  I  and  my  Amone  were 
wed,  and  thou,  my  Richter,  stood  by,  and  gave  us 
thy  blessing.  Then  I  led  iVmone  back  to  her  father 
for  the  last  time,  and  the  next  morning  took  her 
away  forever.  We  departed  from  Hof.  I  left  my 
brother,  sleeping.  We  came  to  Bayreuth,  where  I 
intended  to  hire  a  dwelhng.     But  Emanuel   had 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  139 

cared  for  all  that,  and  had  furnished  it  with  a  com- 
pleteness that  extended  from  the  greatest  to  the 
smallest  things.  In  addition  to  what  Amone  had 
sent  here,  he  had  provided  every  thing  necessary 
or  agreeable. 

"  Represent  to  yourself  our  surprise,  when  we 
stept  into  the  apartment,  and  found  all,  even  to 
the  ink-glass  and  strewing  sand  ;  candles  lighted 
upon  my  desk,  and  a  barometer  near  them.  All 
—  from  the  window-curtains  to  the  electrical  ma- 
chine, for  I'ghting  the  fire  —  from  the  smallest  milk 
pitcher  to  the  largest  kettle,  all  arranged,  every 
thing  in  its  place,  or  hanging  on  its  nail." 

Albretch,  Otto's  brother,  a  noble  and  generous 
character,  who  is  called  the  old  bachelor,  and 
whom  they  regret  leaving  alone  when  Otto  mar- 
ries, saves  them  all  anxiety  on  his  account  by  be- 
coming suddenly  attached  to  a  young  lady,  and 
marrying  in  a  hurry,  as  old  bachelors  are  too  apt 
to  do. 

It  was  to  this  little  circle  of  attached  friends, 
living  in  great  outward  simplicity,  that  Richter 
brought  his  Caroline,  rich  in  every  inward  and 
outward  quality  that  could  add  to  it  grace  or  hap- 
piness. 

To  show  the  beautiful  simplicity  of  their  life,  I 


140  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

give  an  extract  from  Otto,  describing  his  own 
birthday.     He  says  : 

"  It  is  the  first  in  domestic  life  with  my  Amone, 
and  therefore,  doubly  dear.  Truly,  it  is  some- 
thing beautiful  to  observe  the  anxious  care  and 
contrivance  of  a  Housfrau  to  create  some  new 
pleasure,  to  see  how  in  secret  all  is  directed  to 
one  object,  to  create  a  happy  surprise  for  her 
husband. 

"  As  I  arose  on  the  ninth,  and  went  into  my 
own  room,  Amone  came  to  meet  me,  with  the 
most  tender  love,  embraced  me,  and  led  me  into 
the  common  apartment  to  see  what  she  had  pre- 
pared for  me.  There,  under  wreaths  of  flowers 
and  kindled  lights,  were  a  large  cake  that  she  had 
herself  made  the  day  before  ;  pastry  and  wine  that 
her  sister  had  sent  me  from  Hof.  All  were  sym- 
metrically placed  and  beautiful ;  and  on  each  side 
there  lay  shirts  of  fine  holland,  that  she  had  been 
months  before  secretly  employed  in  making,  to  sur- 
prise me.  The  love  of  this  good,  devoted  being 
touched  me  even  to  tears. 

"  The  pleasure  and  emotion  of  the  day  were 
much  heightened  by  the  good  Emanuel,  who 
always  gives  me  proofs  of  his  esteem  and  love. 
In  the  afternoon,  we  took  a  long  walk,  and  then 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  141 

we  all  assembled  around  his  cheerful  tea-table.  I 
thought  of  you  the  whole  day,  my  Richter,  and 
painted  to  myself  your  future  birth-days  that  you 
would,  perhaps,  pass  with  us,  when  we  should  all 
live  together  in  domestic  intimacy.' 

I  close  this  part  with  a  letter  from  Richter  to 
his  wife,  on  her  first  birth-day  after  their  marriage. 

"  Even  now,  as  I  would  begin,  tones  from  the 
^Eolian  harp  come  to  my  ear,  as  though  they  would 
say  what  I  should  write  to  thee,  my  beloved! 
New  born,  for  that  veiled  year,  which  no  winter, 
but  spring  clouds  only  conceal,  thy  birthday  is  also 
mine,  and  with  wishes  for  thee,  my  own  will  be 
fulfilled.  Led  by  quiet  joys  among  flowers,  and 
sunbeams  and  pure  loving  hearts,  shall  thou  pass, 
dear  one,  into  thy  new  year.  O  nothing  shall 
fail  thee  therein !     But  should  all  else  fail,  I  will 

^  Amone  Herold  was  one  of  Paul's  earliest  pupils,  and  most 
constant  correspondents.  As  her  marriage  was  childless,  she 
gave  much  of  her  time  to  literary  pursuits.  Her  first  publica- 
tion was  a  translation  of  Ossian.  She  afterwards  published 
some  novels,  that  her  friend  Paul  revised.  Olto  often  speaks 
of  her  philosophical  mind  ;  and  her  writings  could  not  have  been 
without  value,  as  Cotta  gave  her  two  louis  d'ors,  nearly  ten  dol- 
lars a  sheet  for  her  stories.  Schindel  says:  '<  She  excels  in 
descriptions  of  scenes  of  domestic  tenderness,  and  is  distin- 
guished for  penetration  and  power  of  acute  observation." 
Amone  was  yet  living  at  the  time  of  the  publication  of  Jean 
Paul's  life. 


142  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

remain  to  thee  fast  and  true  ;  and  when  thy  future 
years  are  past,  thou  shalt  say  to  me  :  '  You  have 
kept  the  vows  of  love  !  You  have  warmly  loved 
me  !  We  have  been  happy  ! '  I  will  be  to  thee 
father  and  mother !  Thou  shall  be  the  happiest  of 
human  beings,  that  I  also  may  be  happy !  And 
thus  may  it  be  forever ;  and  may  the  Infinite  hand 
behind  the  clouds,  that  led  us  together,  lay  its 
blessing  upon  our  union,  and  gives  us  only  the  sor- 
rows that  we  can  bear  !  " 


PART  FOURTH. 


CHAPTER  I. 

RICHTER    REMOVES    TO    BAYREUTH.  SOCIAL    POSI- 
TION.  PERSONAL    APPEARANCE    AND   HABITS. 

FAMILY. LETTER     FROM      HIS      ELDEST     DAUGH- 
TER. 

To  return :  the  poet's  life  in  Coburg,  as  ^  ^  ^g^^ 
we  have  already  said,  is  a  complete  ^s'^'^^^- 
blank  leaf  in  his  biography.  It  was  easy,  there- 
fore, although  he  says  to  Otto,  "  it  is  stupid  to 
wander  about  with  wife  and  children,  and  cook," 
—  yet  it  was  natural  to  turn  his  eyes  to  the  place 
that  had  always  been  the  Mecca  of  his  wishes. 
On  the  first  of  August,  1805,  the  day,  Paul  said, 
'^  on  which,  according  to  the  old  Saga^  the  Devil  fell 
from  heaven,  he  should  return  to  his  upon  earth." 
He  soon  found  a  quiet  little  place  in  Bayreuth, 


144  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

where  the  green  meadows,  and  the  sheltered  val- 
leys, and  the  misty  mountains  of  his  fancy,  became 
fixed  and  permanent  objects  in  his  view. 

In  close  neighborhood  with  Otto  and  Amone, 
and  his  old  friend  Emanuel,  he  hired  a  convenient 
and  pretty  house,  consisting  of  four  rooms  and 
three  cabinets,  on  the  beautiful  margin  of  the 
Maine,  and  commanding  an  extensive  prospect  of 
the  region  he  loved  so  well.  Here  he  lived  in 
the  most  endearing  social  intercourse  with  these 
friends,  which  was  uninterrupted  until  the  day  of 
his  death. 

But  to  Jean  Paul  a  place  under  the  free  and 
open  heaven  to  study  and  muse,  was  almost  as 
necessary  as  a  shelter  for  his  wife  and  children  ; 
and  he  was  often  seen,  in  a  fine  morning,  with  a 
sack  of  books  upon  his  back,  a  knotted  staff  in 
his  hand,  followed  by  his  faithful  Spitz,  passing 
through  the  Linden  avenue  that  led  to  a  hermitage, 
far  out  of  the  city ;  where  there  was  an  extensive 
view  over  the  valley  to  the  Fichtelgebirge.  Here 
was  a  small  peasant's  house,  in  whose  upper 
chamber  Richter  had  furnished  a  study  for  in- 
clement weather.  And  the  good  Frau  still  shows 
the  room  where  Richter  came  till  the  last  year  of 
his  life,  and  endeared  himself  to  her  by  good 
humor  and  kindness. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  145 

On  fine  days  the  poet  might  be  seen  sitting  not 
far  from  the  house,  under  the  overhanging  Hnden, 
sunk  in  his  own,  or  regarding  the  outward  world, 
until  the  darkening  twilight,  or  his  children,  sent 
by  the  watchful  Caroline,  reminded  him  that  it 
was  time  to  call  his  friend  Otto,  who  was  within 
the  sound  of  his  voice,  and  return  home. 

With  his  settlement  in  Bayreuth,  the  completion 
of  Titan,  and  the  publication  of  the  Fkgelyahre, 
began  a  new  existence  in  the  literary,  the  ideal, 
and  the  actual  life  of  Richter.  He  now  stood,  in 
the  full  ripeness  of  his  age,  with  an  entire  knowl- 
edge, and  complete  consciousness  of  his  relations 
to  society ;  and  with  a  rich  treasure  of  experience 
both  in  life  and  in  literature.  But  on  the  other 
hand,  all  his  upward  strivings,  both  in  poetry  and 
life,  lay  behind  him.  He  had  obtained,  both 
in  domestic  life  and  in  fame,  all  that  he  had 
aspired  to.  The  ideal  in  these  paths  no  longer 
beckoned  him  onwards.  He  had  found  in  his 
Caroline,  if  not  all  a  poet  could  imagine,  enough 
to  make  a  poet's  fireside  happy  ;  and  as  a  father 
and  a  member  of  society,  he  had  acquired  an  easy 
and  honorable  position,  that  would  ever  bind  him 
in  silken  fetters  to  his  home,  and  to  the  beloved 
soil  of  his  native  district.  The  calm  satisfaction 
and  contentment,  the  harmonious  quiet,  the  repose 

VOL.    II.  10 


146  LIFE    OF     JEAN    PAUL. 

and  order  of  his  life,  also  appear  in  all  the  works 
composed  after  the  Titan. 

Those  who  have  followed  us  thus  far  will  dwell 
with  satisfaction  on  this  period  of  Richter's  life, 
"  when  with  a  heart  at  once  of  the  most  sportful 
and  the  most  earnest  feelings ;  affectionate,  and 
encompassed  with  the  objects  of  his  affections,  dili- 
gent in  the  highest  of  all  earthly  tasks,  the  acqui- 
sition and  diffusion  of  truth  ;  and  witnessing  from 
his  sequestered  home  the  workings  of  his  own 
mind  on  thousands  of  fellow  minds,  he  was  happy 
and  at  peace." 

In  his  own  immediate  circle  also,  the  influence 
of  so  original  a  mind,  and  a  heart  the  truest  and 
tenderest  that  ever  beat,  upon  his  children  and 
neighborhood,  must  have  been  deep  and  perma- 
nent. He  was  an  enthusiast,  but  no  visionary  ; 
neither  were  his  singularities  the  result  of  affecta- 
tion, as  writers  in  this  country,  and  in  England, 
have  asserted  ;  for  affectation  is  founded  in  false- 
hood, and  Richter  was  the  truest  of  human  beings. 
The  poetry  of  his  genius  had  always  been  reflected 
in  his  life  ;  peace  and  happiness  from  within  now 
shewed  itself  in  his  external  appearance.  One  of 
his  biographers  says,  "  He  had  hitherto  been 
pale  and  lean,  he  now  became  stout  and  robust  ; 
and,  had  it  not  been  that  the  delicately  formed 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  147 

nose,  the  lovely  mouth,  the  intellectual  brow  and 
lightning  eye,  remained  unchanged,  he  would  have 
been  taken  for  a  farmer  rather  than  a  poet." 

But  I  must  not  give  the  reader  the  impression 
that  Richter  was  absolutely  without  faults.  He 
had  persevered  from  the  earliest  time  in  the 
habit  of  writing  down  rules  for  conduct,  and 
strictly  regulating  his  whole  manner  of  life  ;  from 
this  we  learn  his  inclinations,  his  secret  disgusts, 
and  the  faults  he  was  most  conscious  of.  Every 
Hue  shows  him  full  of  love  and  generosity  in  all 
the  relations  of  life  ;  but  with  his  glowing  fancy 
and  temperament  of  fire,  he  was  sometimes  harsh 
and  violent,  especially  after  long  continued  writ- 
ing, that  brought  him  into  an  excited  state  of 
mind,  differing  from  intoxication  only  in  its  cause. 
Against  this  he  contended  strongly  ;  and  his  most 
troubled  and  penitent  hours,  appear  to  have  been 
caused  by  the  transgression  of  his  resolutions  on 
those  occasions  when  he  forgot  the  habitual  mild- 
ness of  his  character.  He  mourned  also  over  his 
violence  in  argument ;  and  there  are  many  little 
billets  apologizing  to  his  friends  the  next  day,  for 
the  warmth  of  his  opinions  the  previous  evening. 
Paul  loved  argument,  and  was  noted  for  maintain- 
ing his  opinions  with  great  warmth  ;  he  was  also 
extremely  unguarded  and  imprudent.    The  breach 


148  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

between  him  and  the  Schlegel  school  was  often 
widened  by  unguarded  speeches,  that  were  caught 
up  and  repeated  by  curious  or  mahcious  hsteners. 
In  reference  to  this  Paul  says  in  his  via  recta,  "  If 
one  effort  at  reconcihation  does  not  succeed,  the 
second  or  the  third  will  be  certain  to." 

His  biographer,  a  nephew,  who  Uved  much  in 
his  family,  writes  thus  of  it.  After  saying  that  he 
had  been  educated  with  the  utmost  reverence  and 
even  fear  of  Richter  ;  that  reports  had  reached  him 
of  his  oddity  and  severity,  so  that  he  remained  a 
whole  day  in  Bayreuth,  and  passed  his  house  sev- 
eral times  before  he  could  get  courage  to  knock  at 
the  door : 

"  As  soon  as  I  entered  all  my  timidity  vanished. 
Richter,  indeed,  appeared  but  for  a  moment,  to 
welcome  me,  and  returned  to  his  study.  But  the 
mild  splendor  of  his  whole  godlike,  spiritual  and 
moral  being  appeared  as  shown  in  his  wife  and 
children,  and  everything  about  them,  and  threw 
suddenly  a  warm,  rose-colored  glow  upon  my 
spirits. 

^'  I  found  in  them  all  the  most  benevolent  and 
heartiest  love  united  with  the  simplicity  and  open- 
ness of  the  truest  innocence  ;  extraordinary  cul- 
ture, with  indeed,  a  too  humble  unpretendingness  ; 
the  most  earnest  interest  for  all  that  was  elevated, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  149 

with  the  most  cheerful  good  humor  and  love  of 
pleasantry  and  wit ;  a  simple  manner  of  living, 
and  ignorance  of  fashionable  luxuries,  but  the  hap- 
piest contentment,  with  the  truest  hospitality.  A 
deep  penetration  and  knowledge  of  hfe,  united 
with  the  most  childlike  purity  of  heart,  that  had 
no  eye  for  the  low  or  the  impure ;  but  unsuspi- 
cious, they  confided  in  the  best,  and  received  as 
they  gave,  without  distrust.  All  this  intellect  and 
love  was  clothed  in  the  unstudied  exterior  of  a 
graceful  form."  To  add  to  this  charming  picture 
of  his  family,  there  was  the  deepest  reverence  for 
the  husband  and  father,  with  the  freest  and  most 
independent  intercourse  with  him.  In  proof  of 
this,  there  is  a  letter  from  the  eldest  daughter, 
Emelia. 

..."  I  love  to  represent  the  dear  friendly 
man,  with  brown  study  coat  and  socks  hanging 
down,  as  he  entered  our  mother's  chamber  the 
first  thing  in  the  morning  to  greet  her.  The  hound 
springs  on  before  him,  and  the  children  hang  about 
him,  and  seek,  when  he  leaves  the  room,  to  thrust 
their  httle  feet  into  the  shppers  behind,  when  he 
raises  his  feet  a  little,  so  as  to  hang  on  him  more 
securely.  One  springs  before,  (at  that  time  my 
blessed  brother  lived,)  the  other  two  hang  on  his 
coat  skirts  until  he  reaches  his  own  chamber-door ; 


150  ,         LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

where  all  leave  him,  for  only  the  dog  must  enter 
there. 

"  When  we  were  very  small,  we  lived  in  a  two- 
story  house,  my  father  worked  above,  in  the  attic. 
We  crept  on  our  hands  and  feet  over  the  stairs, 
and  hammered  on  the  door  till  the  father  himself 
arose  and  opened  it,  and  after  our  noisy  ingress, 
closed  it  again  —  then  he  took  from  an  old  chest  a 
trumpet  and  a  fife,  with  which  we  made  noisy  mu- 
sic while  he  continued  writing.  We  ventured  in 
again  many  times  in  the  day  to  play  with  a  squir- 
rel that  he  had  at  that  time,  and  that  in  the  even- 
ing he  took  out  with  him  in  his  pocket,  and  always 
made  one  of  the  family  circle. 

"  He  had,  usually,  animals  that  he  tamed,  about 
him.  Sometimes  a  mouse:  then  a  great,  white, 
cross  spider,  that  he  kept  in  a  paper  box  with  a 
glass  top.  There  was  a  little  door  beneath,  by 
which  he  could  feed  his  prisoner  with  dead  flies. 
In  the  autumn  he  collected  the  winter  food  for  his 
little  tree  frog  and  his  tame  spider. 

"  The  father  was  good  to  every  thing:  he  could 
not  bear  to  witness  the  least  pain,  not  even  in  the 
lowest  animal.  Thus,  he  never  went  out  without 
opening  the  cage  of  his  canary  birds,  to  indemnify 
the  poor  animals,  who  would  be  melancholy  in  his 
absence.     He  took  at  one  time  the  most  sedulous 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  151 

care  of  a  dog,  who  came  in  one  evening  after  the 
loss  of  the  poor  dead  Alert,  as  he  knew  that  in 
the  morning  he  should  exchange  him  for  another, 
and  he  would  have  no  opportunity  to  feed  him 
again.  You  will  smile  at  the  connection,  but  he 
did  the  same  for  a  departing  servant-maid  :  pro- 
viding every  thing  for  her  convenience  the  day  be- 
fore, and  delighting  the  poor  girl  in  the  most 
unusual  degree. 

^'  The  children  were  permitted  all  sorts  of  prac- 
tical jokes  towards  him.  '  Father,  dance  once/ 
then  he  would  make  some  leaps ;  or  he  must 
speak  French,  in  which  he  placed  wonderful  value 
on  the  nasal  sound,  which  no  one  made  as  well  as 
he.  It  sounded  indeed,  curiously,  and  made  my 
mother  laugh. 

"  In  the  twilight  he  told  us  stories  ;  or  spake  of 
God,  and  other  worlds ;  or  he  would  tell  us  of  our 
grandfather,  and  other  splendid  things.  We  ran 
to  gain  the  wager,  which  of  us  should  get  nearest 
to  him  on  the  sofa.  The  old  money-box,  hooped 
with  iron,  with  a  hole  in  the  cover,  that  two  mice 
might  conveniently  pass  through,  was  the  stepping- 
stone  by  which  we  jumped  over  the  back  of  the 
sofa ;  for  in  front  it  was  difficult  to  press  between 
the  table  and  the  repertory  for  papers.  We  all 
three  crowded  between  the  back  of  the  sofa  and 


152 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


the  father's  outstretched  legs  ;  above,  at  his  head, 
lay  the  sleeping  dog.  At  last,  when  we  had  pressed 
our  limbs  into  the  most  inconvenient  postures,  the 
story  began. 

"  The  father  knew  how  to  create  for  himself 
many  little  pleasures.  Thus,  he  made  all  the  boxes 
for  his  tame  animals,  after  his  half-hour's  nap  in 
the  afternoon.  It  was  a  special  satisfaction  to  him 
to  prepare  ink,  which  he  did  much  oftener  than 
was  necessary,  for  Otto  wrote  long  years  after  with 
the  rejected  part.  He  could  never  wait  to  perfect 
it ;  but  tried  it  an  hour  after  it  was  made.  If  it 
was  already  black,  he  would  come  joyfully  to  us 
and  say  — '  Now  if  it  is  black  already,  what  will  it 
be  tomorrow  or  after  fourteen  days  ? '  .  .  . 

"  The  mere  thought  of  destruction  was  painful 
to  him,  especially  the  loss  of  the  work  of  man's 
mind.  He  never  burnt  a  letter  ;  yes,  he  treasured 
even  the  most  insignificant.  '  All  loss  of  life,'  he 
said,  'may  be  restored  again,  but  the  creations 
of  these  heads,  these  hearts,  never !  The  name 
should  be  erased,  but  the  soul  that  speaks  its  most 
intimate  sentiments  in  letters,  should  live.'  He 
had  also  thick  books  written  full  of  the  remarks, 
and  the  habits  and  peculiarities  of  his  children. 

"  At  meals  he  was  very  cheerful,  and  listened  to 
every  thing  we  told  him  with  the  greatest  sympa- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    FALL.  153 

thy,  and  always  made  something  out  of  the  small- 
est relation  ;  so  that  the  narrator  was  always  wiser 
for  what  he  had  said. 

^'  In  eating  and  drinking,  he  was  extremely 
moderate.  He  never  gave  us  direct  instruction, 
and  yet  he  taught  us  always.  Our  evening  table 
he  called  a  French  Table  d'hote,  that  he  furnished 
with  twelve  dishes  taken  from  the  arts  and  sciences. 
We  tasted  of  all  without  being  satiated  with  any, 
and  we  all  ventured  to  utter  any  joke  to  the  father 
about  himself  or  his  entertainment. 

^'  His  punishments  for  us  girls  were  rather  passive 
than  active ;  they  consisted  in  refusing  some  re- 
quest, or  in  a  severe  word ;  but  my  brother  some- 
times received  corporal  punishment.  My  father 
would  say,  'Max,  this  afternoon,  at  three  o'clock, 
come  to  me  to  receive  your  whipping.'  He  went 
punctually  and  suffered  it  without  a  sound. 

"  Our  principal  festival  was  Christmas,  and  our 
father  began  early  to  look  after  the  sacred  appear- 
ance of  the  present-giving  Christkindlein.  Four- 
teen days  before  he  would  suffer  some  little  light 
to  creep  through.  If  we  had  been  very  good,  in 
the  day,  when  he  came  home  in  the  evening  from 
the  Harmony,  he  would  bring  us  some  little  present, 
and  say,  "  Today,  good  children,  I  went  into  the 
garden  of  the  Harmony,  and  as   I  looked  toward 


154  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

heaven,  there  came  a  rose-red  cloud  before  me, 
and  there  sat  the  ChrisiMndlein ;  and  as  you  have 
been  good  to-day  he  sent  you  this."  ^  Christmas 
week  he  went  himself  to  the  fair,  and  when  we 
saw  him  coming  back,  and  the  angles  and  pro- 
tuberances of  his  cloak  betraying  what  he  wished  to 
conceal  in  its  folds,  we  ran  down  the  steps  and 
would  try  to  hang  on  him.  Then  he  would  cry 
out,  artfully  feigning  anger,  '  Touch  me  at  your 
peril !  ' 

''  When  the  evening  came,  as  soon  as  it  was  twi- 
hght,  we  must  all  withdraw,  my  mother  and  all. 
He  arranged  every  thing  himself;  and  when  the 
tree  was  lighted  we  were  recalled,  and  then  we 
could  not  be  gay  enough  to  satisfy  him.  He 
wished  to  educate  us  with  the  frugality  with  which 
fate  reconciled  him  in  his  childhood.  Thus  he 
never  gave  us  pocket  money  ;  but  on  the  three 
domestic  fair  days  in  Bayreuth  he  gave  each  of  us 
three  kreutzers  f  later  it  arose  to  six,  and  a  short 
time  before  my  first  communion  I  received  a  four- 
and-twenty  kreutzer  piece. 


'  The  reader  will  recollect  how  dear  this  illusion  of  German 
children  was  to  Jean  Paul,  in  his  own  childhood.  Strange  he 
could  preserve  it  in  his  own  children,  when  the  schoolmaster 
had  been  so  long  abroad  — Tr. 

2  A  kreutzer  is  about  a  penny,  or  one  cent  and  a  half. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  155 

"  Last  year  I  and  my  sister  received  a  dollar  ;  but 
it  might  as  well  have  been  thrown  away.  I  learnt 
with  great  difficulty  the  use  of  money  ;  and  if,  as  I 
know  not  who,  asserts,  a  thousand  angels  can  sit 
on  the  point  of  a  needle,  so  we  founded  a  thou- 
sand plans  upon  our  dollar.  But  they,  with  it, 
vanished  in  the  air. 

"  I  will  relate  only  two  little  things  more.  First, 
how  my  father  assisted  the  poor  gardeners,  who 
belonged  to  the  garden  of  the  Harmony,  where  he 
wrote.  He  always  gave  them  five  guilders  ^  at 
once,  from  which  the  Frau  must  bring  one  back 
at  the  end  of  the  month  to  show  him ;  to  this  he 
would  add  a  sechzer  (six  kreutzers)  interest,  as  he 
called  it. 

^'  Once  more  —  will  it  weary  you  if  I  relate,  that 
he  kept  an  empty  toilet  box,  in  which  there  were 
little  holes  for  penny  and  two-penny  pieces,  and 
that,  like  Swift,  when  he  went  to  walk,  he  carried 
these  small  pieces  in  the  left  waistcoat  pocket,  to 
give  to  the  poor  people." 

*  A  guilder,  or  florin,  is  about  forty  cents.  The  value  of 
these  coins  is  nominal.  They  vary  greatly  in  the  different 
states  of  Germany. 


CHAPTER  II. 


FREEDOM 

richter's    view 

of    napoleon. comic    works. letter    to 

general  bernadotte. 

A.  D.  1805  '^^^  Introduction  to  Esthetics  was  the 
aged  42.  g^^^  |^^^j^  published  after  the  Flegelyahre. 
This  is  apparently  a  scientifically  critical  work,  but 
is  not  free  from  the  personality  that  characterises 
all  the  productions  of  Jean  Paul.  It  is  only  frag- 
mentary. It  makes  no  pretension  to  a  complete 
theory  of  the  beautiful  in  art,  and  can  therefore 
lead  to  no  serious  errors  ;  but  it  resembles  all  the 
other  works  of  this  author,  which  receive  their 
worth  and  significance  from  one  another,  and  can 
be  thoroughly  understood  only  through  each  other 
and  through  a  knowledge  of  their  author  ;  thus  this 
work  can  only  be  fully  understood  through  the  pe- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  157 

culiarities  of  the  others,  and  they  through  this.  It 
is  remarkable  as  closing  with  an  eloquent  eulogy 
of  Herder,  who  died  while  it  was  in  preparation. 

As  it  would  exceed  the  limits  of  this  work  to 
attempt  an  analysis  of  it,  I  mention  it  only  as  the 
cause  of  the  loss  of  the  Canonicate,  formerly  prom- 
ised to  Paul  by  the  king  of  Prussia.  It  was  dedi- 
cated, by  permission,  to  the  Duke  Aemel  von  Go- 
tha,  a  prince  wlio  had  always  shown  a  singular 
friendship  for  Richter,  and  delighted  in  his  society. 
This  prince  had  raised  himself  much  above  the 
conventionalisms  of  his  own  rank,  and  in  his  let- 
ters to  Paul  laughed  at  the  pedantry  of  court 
ceremonies. 1 

In  his  dedication,  Paul  mentioned  and  praised 
the  hitherto  unknown  poetical  productions  of  the 
duke,  and  the  dedication  is  accidentally  so  word- 
ed, as  if  the  duke  had,  although  he  had  not,  pre- 
viously seen  it.  All  this  appeared  to  the  dean  of 
the  philosophical  faculty  at  Jena  indiscreet,  and 
he  refused  his  imprimatur  to  the  publication. 

Richter  was  deeply  offended  at  this  pretended 

*  This  is  probably  the  same  "  Duke  of  Gotha,  with  long  legs 
and  red  hair,"  of  whom  Betine  gives  so  pleasant  an  impression 
in  her  letters  to  Gunderode.  He  was  one  of  the  most  genial 
and  wittiest  princes  of  the  time,  who  raised  himself  with  won- 
derful boldness  above  the  prejudices  of  his  rank. 


158 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


guardianship  of  himself  and  his  princely  friend. 
He  experienced,  for  the  first  time,  the  despotism 
of  the  censure  of  the  press  ;  he  was  frightened  at 
the  desolation  it  threatened  to  carry  into  the  king- 
dom of  the  mind,  and  he  determined  to  make  a 
bold  appeal  against  this  instrument  of  tyranny. 
He  obtained  permission  of  the  duke  to  print  the 
whole  history  of  the  affair,  together  with  all  their 
previous  correspondence ;  the  prince  refusing  to 
soften  or  repress  any  of  the  cynical  or  satirical  re- 
marks in  the  letters,  relative  to  his  own  cast. 

At  the  end  of  three  weeks  this  protest  against 
the  censure  of  the  press,  together  with  the  duke  of 
Gotha's  letters,  was  published,  under  the  protection 
of  the  noble  prince  Dalberg,  and  under  the  name 
of  the  Frcyheitsbuchlein,  (Freedom's  pamphlet.) 
A  step  like  this,  that  no  other  literary  character 
would  have  ventured  upon,  could  not  fail  to  excite 
the  utmost  attention  in  Germany.  But  the  in- 
creasing political  storms  of  the  period,  and  the 
darkening  atmosphere,  turned  all  minds  to  the 
critical  situation  of  affairs,  and  Richter  lost  all  the 
gratitude  and  reward  of  his  courageous  patriotism, 
except  that  which  he  always  carried  in  his  own 
breast,  an  ardent  love  and  devotion  to  freedom. 

Soon  after,  there  was  a  festival  in  Woiisiedel,  to 
celebrate  a  visit  from  the  king  and  queen  of  Prus- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  159 

sia,  and  Richter,  at  the  request  of  Hardenburg, 
prepared  a  musical  entertainment,  for  which  he 
wrote  his  first  verses.  There  were  also  present  at 
this  festival  one  or  two  of  the  sister  Graces  to 
whom  he  had  dedicated  his  Titan,  and  Richter 
took  this  opportunity  to  remind  their  majesties  of 
the  promised  prebend,  and  learnt,  with  astonish- 
ment, that  since  the  publication  of  the  Freyheits- 
buchlein,  the  king  did  not  intend  to  recollect  his 
promise. 

The  admirers  of  Jean  Paul  must  rejoice,  that  he 
was  not  bound  to  the  suppression  of  any  opinion, 
by  holding  office  under  any  prince.  He  was  com- 
pletely independent  of  everything  but  his  con- 
science. It  is  impossible  for  us  in  this  country  to 
understand  the  conventionalisms  of  society  in  the 
old  aristocratic  countries,  or  the  wide  differences  of 
rank,  that  place  a  gulf  between  a  literary  man  and 
a  prince  :  to  us,  the  republican  or  democratic 
pride  of  wealth,  that  enables  a  vulgar  soul  to  as- 
sume the  attitude  of  patronage  to  a  man  of  genius, 
would  be  far  more  intolerable,  than  the  generous 
pride  of  ancestry  in  a  man,  or  of  nobility  in  a  wo- 
man ;  a  woman,  who  might  also  receive  the  hom- 
age of  a  man  of  genius,  for  her  accomplished  man- 
ners, or  her  refined  and  feminine  dignity. 

We  learn  from  the  literature  of  the  old  coun- 


160 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


tries,  that  nobility  has  always  stooped  to  cherish 
genius ;  and  has  sometimes,  as  Leonora,  Tasso, 
betrayed  it ;  and  that  in  the  middle  ranks  of  life 
there  is  an  indifference  to  talent  without  wealth, 
that  does  not  admit  it  to  such  distinction  as  it  re- 
ceives with  us. 

The  poet  seems  to  be  "  the  aristocrat  of  the 
world,"  looking  always  to  the  shining  summits  of 
life  ;  but,  to  use  Paul's  comparison,  "  needing  to 
be  cherished,  like  the  canary  bird,  with  soft  warm 
hands,  before  he  can  be  made  to  sing." 

Paul's  nephew,  speaking  of  this  subject,  says, 
"  There  was  no  German  poet  so  favored  by  the 
highest  nobility,  and  so  coldly  treated  by  the 
citizens,  as  Jean  Paul ;  while  the  latter,  for  his 
contests  for  them  in  hterature  and  pohtics,  not 
only  gave  him  not  the  smallest  thanks,  but  consid- 
ered themselves  injured  by  his  independence  and 
outward  contempt  of  forms ;  and  slandered  him 
as  an  original,  or  laughed  at  him  as  an  oddity  ;  the 
nobility,  especially  princes,  treated  him  with  ten- 
derness and  attention.  They  were  pleased  that 
he  never  bowed  low  to  them,'  and  permitted  him 

'  "  Paul  never  bent  his  back,  but  had  a  wholly  peculiar  way 
of  bowing.  He  nodded  only  the  head  ;  and  this  to  the  highest 
as  to  the  lowest,  in  a  manner  so  noble  and  amiable,  while  he  at 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  161 

all  sorts  of  freedom  in  dress,  and  peculiar  openness 
and  unreserve  in  his  conversation  with  them.  As 
he  was  infinitely  surprised  at  this  partiahty  for  so 
democratic  a  poet,  and  sometimes  imagined  that 
through  his  representations  he  had  converted  Le- 
gitimacy to  liberal  opinions,  he  therefore  talked 
openly,  not  from  social  vanity,  but  to  do  them 
honor,  of  his  intimate  relations  with  exalted  men 
and  women.  This  often  brought  him  into  a  false 
position  with  people  of  his  own  rank,  and  im- 
paired the  influence  of  his  generous  and  hberal 
opinions." 

Many  anecdotes  are  told  in  his  biography,  of 
Paul's  independence  in  his  intercourse  with  the 
nobihty  —  such  as  his  presenting  himself  at  a  par- 
ticular door  of  the  Weimar  theatre,  where  none 
were  entitled  to  enter  who  were  not  also  entitled 
to  wear  a  sword.  Paul  answered,  ''  that  he  should 
feel  himself  as  much  degraded  by  putting  on  a 
sword  as  others  were  by  having  it  taken  off";"  and 
he  was  permitted  to  pass,  etc. 

To  return  from  this  digression.  Richter,  through 
his  literary  labors,  had  hitherto  been  completely 
independent.     He  had  obtained  for  the  Flegel- 

the  same  time  made  a  greeting  gesture  with  the  right  hand,  that 
expressed  as  much  respect  as  good  humor  and  friendliness." 
VOL.    II,  11 


162  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

yahre,  that  generous  publisher  Cotta,  who  had 
paid  him  seven  louis  d'ors  a  sheet ; '  and  the  po- 
pularity which  he  had  lost  by  the  Titan  was  com- 
pletely regained  by  this  work.  But  at  this  time, 
when  he  possessed  more  than  ever  the  favor  of  the 
public,  the  whole  commerce  of  Germany,  through 
the  wars  of  Napoleon,  and  especially  the  book- 
trade,  was  thrown  into  trouble  and  confusion ; 
this,  added  to  the  diminished  resources  of  all 
classes,  which  disinclined  them  to  the  purchase  of 
large  works,  diminished  also  the  resources  of  our 
Richter,  at  the  same  moment  that  his  family  was 
increased  by  the  birth  of  another  daughter.  His 
limited  income  was  to  be  regretted,  because  he 
was  obliged,  for  the  sake  of  providing  immediate 
small  sums  for  the  support  of  his  family,  to  divide 
and  weaken  his  powers,  in  the  production  of  short 
essays,  tales,  and  other  contributions  to  the  ephem- 
eral hterature,  the  fashionable  annuals,  and  ladies' 
almanacs  of  the  period. 

*  Reckoning  a  louis  d'or  at  four  dollars,  which  is  the  nom- 
inal value,  amounts  to  twenty-eight  dollars  a  sheet.  It  was  ex- 
tremely important  for  Richter  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  an  honest 
publisher,  for,  through  simplicity  or  ignorance,  he  never  speci- 
fied the  number  of  copies  of  any  of  his  works.  The  printers, 
therefore,  printed  an  unlimited  number  ;  and  this  is  the  reason 
his  works  reached  so  few  editions  during  his  life. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  163 

To  the  widowed  sister  of  his  wife,  Minna  S^a- 
zier,  who  supported  her  young  family  by  editing 
an  ahnanac  for  ladies,  and  to  whom  he  sent  many 
contributions,  he  wrote,  "  that  it  was  easier  for 
him  to  write  a  volume  than  a  sheet,  and  that  he 
could  bear  any  limitation  better  than  an  intellect- 
ual one."  In  this  same  letter,  he  says,  in  answer 
to  tlie  request  of  the  sister,  that  Caroline  would 
write  something  for  her  Almanac,  "  Caroline  is  a 
poet  ill  her  life,  and  hy  that  very  life,  rather  than 
upon  paper,  and  for  the  public." 

Paul's  third  child,  a  daughter,  was  named  for 
his  dearest  friend,  softening  Otto  into  the  pretty 
feminine  name  of  Odilia. 

The  unfolding  and  culture  of  all  that  was  good 
and  beautiful  in  his  children,  was  one  of  the  most 
delightful  employments  of  Richter.  He  knew  that 
a  better  future  was  only  to  be  acquired  by  a  better 
youth,  and  he  employed  himself  in  wnimgLevana, 
his  work  upon  education. 

A  critic  says,  that  "  in  no  other  of  his  works  is 
the  whole  man,  in  his  inward  and  outward  being, 
and  in  his  relations  with  and  reciprocal  dependen- 
cies on  the  outward  world,  so  unfolded  as  in  this. 
As  is  the  case  with  all  his  other  works,  they 
reflect  light  upon  this,  and  they  also  are  better 
understood  if  read  by  the  light  derived  from  this," 


164  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Perhaps  it  will  be  an  objection  to  this  work, 
especially  in  so  practical  an  age  and  country  as 
this,  that  the  tendency  of  Richter's  system  of  edu- 
cation is,  to  make  all  men  and  women,  if  not  ac- 
tually writers  and  poets,  yet  supremely  thinking 
and  spiritual  beings.  The  tendency  is  to  with- 
draw too  much  talent  from  actual  and  practical 
life,  and  direct  it  to  speculative  and  intellectual 
pursuits.  One  of  the  marked  peculiarities  of 
Richter  was,  that  in  actual  life  he  was  the  most 
practical  of  men,  suffering  none  of  the  minutia, 
that  could  influence  the  convenience  of  others,  to 
escape  him,  but  in  his  instructions  all  was  spiritual 
and  transcendental. 

No  writer  upon  education  has  thrown  so  much 
light  upon  the  holy  and  hidden  impulses  of  the 
child's  soul ;  no  one  has  written  with  such  rever- 
ence of  the  childish  nature,  and  the  necessity  in  a 
teacher  of  respecting  the  individuality  of  the  child ; 
and  not,  as  has  been  too  much  the  practice,  mea- 
suring all  upon  the  same  Procrustes'  bed.  It  is  in 
fact  a  commentary  upon  those  words  of  the  Saviour, 
"  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  me,  for  of  such 
is  the  kingdom  of  heaven,"  and  no  less  of  the 
other  verse,  ''  in  my  father's  house  are  many  man- 
sions," some  prepared  for  angelic  minds,  and  others 
for  those  of  an  humbler  order,  but  all  are  filled. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  165 

That  which  had  distinguished  all  his  works  was 
even  more  apparent  in  this,  a  singular  knowledge 
of  the  female  heart  in  its  deepest  and  most  delicate 
folds.  This  he  had  gained  in  his  Hofer  solitude, 
where  he  lived  almost  exclusively  with  women, 
and  in  his  subsequent  correspondence  with  his 
female  friends.  Perhaps  there  never  was  a  writer 
to  whom  women  so  completely  surrendered  their 
confidence.  He  understood  the  false  position  in 
which  women  are  placed  in  some  parts  of  the 
civilized  world,  and  he  had,  on  that  account,  more 
leniency  for  their  vices  and  weaknesses  than  for 
the  other  sex. 

Richter  strove  in  this  work  to  return  to  a  sim- 
plicity of  expression,  and  plain  lucid  style  of  writ- 
ing, which  he  had  long  since  abandoned,  but 
which  he  thought  better  adapted  to  the  persons  he 
wished  now  to  benefit ;  and  also  in  order  to  explain 
all  scientific  and  too  learned  illustrations,  he  pub- 
lished at  the  same  time  a  Lexicon  fur  Frauen. 
Lexicon  for  Ladies. 

Although  the  passages  are  innumerable  in  Jean 
Paul's  works,  where  he  speaks  of  women  with 
tenderness  and  respect,  and,  for  the  above  men- 
tioned reason,  treats  them  with  leniency,  yet  it 
is  impossible  to  surpass  the  bitter  contempt,  the 
concentrated  scorn,  with  which  he  speaks  of  those 


166 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


women  who  have  thrown  off  the  restraints  of  their 
sex,  or  of  those  cold  and  selfish  coquettes,  "  whose 
hearts  have  become  as  hard  within  their  breasts 
as  the  stones  that  glitter  on  the  outside." 

This  book,  the  Levana,  was  more  favorably  re- 
ceived than  any  book  he  had  ever  published.  The 
sympathy  was  so  universal  tliat  the  whole  of  the 
edition  was  sold  during  the  disastrous  year  of  1807. 
Even  Goethe  forgot  his  hostihty  to  the  author,  and 
seeing  an  extract  from  the  work,  wrote  to  a  friend, 
''  I  know  not  how  to  say  good  enough  of  this  ex- 
tract from  Levana,  and  desire,  with  impatience, 
the  whole  work." 

About  two  weeks  after  the  publication  of  Levana 
occurred  the  battle  of  Jena,  and  the  last  hopes  for 
Germany,  (of  those  who  placed  their  hopes  upon 
the  resistance  of  Prussia)  failed  ;  and  that  remark- 
able time  began  when  the  greater  part  of  the 
nation  suffered  a  complete  prostration  before  the 
preponderance  of  the  genius  of  Napoleon. 

It  is  difficult  to  gather  from  Richter's  biogra- 
phers the  precise  view  he  took,  at  this  time,  of 
the  aims  of  Napoleon.  We  find  this  passage  in 
his  journal.  ''  Did  I  certainly  know,"  he  wrote 
in  1805,  "  that  Napoleon  was  in  the  wrong,  and 
as  certainly  all  just  means  of  resistance  against  him, 
ah  !  it  were  easy  to  venture  even  life  against  him 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  167 

with  the  pen.  But  this  uncertainty  fearfully  crip- 
ples the  courage  of  the  cosmopolitan,  who  must 
discern  his  aims  through  their  consequences. 
This  it  is  that  perplexes  and  obstructs,  and  is  the 
reason  that,  among  so  many  thousand  intricacies 
and  involvements  of  human  affairs,  no  sacrificing 
soul  finds  it  easy  to  give  his  life  to  discover  the 
right.  The  moral  principle,  that  the  intention,  the 
will,  is  every  thing,  helps  not  here,  for  we  need 
the  discernment  to  discover  the  will."  That 
Richter  believed  at  first  in  the  sincerity  of  Napo- 
leon, appears  from  his  writing  to  Otto  upon  being 
informed  of  his  assuming  the  diadem.  "  Who 
has  not  gnashed  his  teeth,  upon  hearing  of  his 
imperial  majesty  in  France.  Yet  I  do  not  hate 
Buonaparte  as  much  as  I  despise  the  French  ;  and 
Goethe  was  more  far-sighted  than  half  the  world  ; 
for  in  the  beginning  of  the  revolution  he  despised 
them  as  much  as  at  the  end." 

But  even  at  the  confederation  of  the  Rhine, 
Richter  did  not  share  the  complete  prostration 
that  involved  the  rest  of  the  nation.  "  His  pro- 
phetic feeling  told  him  at  that  time,  what  better 
experience  has  taught  the  nations  of  Europe,  that 
all  must  unite  in  the  common  cause  of  freedom  ; 
and  that  one  without  the  rest  could  not  advance 
in  the  road  to  civilization  and  better  government." 


168  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

He  perhaps  thought  that  Napoleon,  by  destroying 
some  of  the  old  and  rotting  institutions,  and  clear- 
ing away  the  rubbish,  was  preparing  the  way  for 
the  advancement  of  light  and  freedom,  and  that 
Austria,  w^ho  would  imprison  her  subjects  forever 
in  spiritual  darkness,  deserved  no  support  from  his 
pen.  He  held  the  depression  of  the  hopes  and 
spirits  of  the  people  as  one  of  the  greatest  evils  of 
the  time  ;  and  he  sought  to  enhven  and  keep  up 
their  courage  by  writings  purely  comic,  that  had 
no  other  aim  than  to  contribute  to  their  cheerful- 
ness. These  were  the  "  Circular  Letter  of  Attila 
Schmalzle,''  and  the  "  Baihjourney  of  Dr.  Katzen- 
hurger,^'  both  infinitely  rich  in  purely  comic  scenes. 
They  were  received  with  inexpressible  delight  by 
the  whole  nation,  and  contributed  to  raise  the 
spirits  of  the  people.  Richter  also  contributed  his 
share  to  the  revival,  at  this  time,  of  the  old  Ger- 
man or  Volks  literature.  It  is  well  known  that 
apprehensions  were  felt  of  the  too  great  prepond- 
erance of  the  French  in  the  literature  of  the  time. 
The  exertions  of  Brentano,  Arnim,  and  Von  der 
Hogen,  with  whom  Tieck  and  the  Schlegels 
joined,  arose  from  this  cause.  They  published  anew 
the  Niehelungenlied,  the  Knabens  Wunderhorn, 
and  went  even  to  the  bringing  out  of  Fouque's 
extravagances,  and  to  complete  caricature  in  his 
later  works. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  169 

The  war  had  yet  no  other  immediately  disas- 
trous consequences  for  Richter  than  that  of  with- 
drawing his  friend  Otto  from  his  family  and  neigh- 
borhood. He  had  been  appointed  quartermaster 
to  prince  William  of  Prussia,  and  accompanied 
the  army,  so  that  the  correspondence  of  the  friends 
was  renewed,  although  with  the  difficulty  of  trans- 
mitting letters  through  a  country  occupied  with 
troops.  But  in  the  autumn  of  1806  the  French 
troops  were  stationed  in  Bayreuth,  and  Richter 
must  have  suffered  a  very  inconvenient  interrup- 
tion of  his  peaceful  labors,  had  two  or  three 
officers,  as  was  usual  in  such  circumstances,  been 
quartered  in  his  quiet  and  orderly  dwelling.  He 
picked  up,  therefore,  his  former  knowledge  of 
French,  and  wrote  the  following  letter  to  general 
Bernadotte  : 

Quatre  Verites,  deux  Esperances  et  une  Demande. 

Verites. 

Premiere :  Vous,  Monsiegneur,  n'aves  du  triste 
dieu  Mars,  que  la  valeur  ;  et  vousaimes  les  hommes 
et  les  lettres  autant,  que  la  gloire. 

Seconde :  Moi,  je  suis  auteur — je  vis  pour 
ecrire  et  j'ecris  pour  vivre  —  ma  plume  nourritma 
femme,  trois  enfans,  un  chien,  un  oiseau  et  moi- 


170  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

meme.  C'est  pourquoi  que  ce  seroit  appauvrir  le 
pauvre  que  d'y  ajouter  un  etre  vivant  et  mangeant 
de  plus. 

Troisieme.  La  Muse  veut  de  la  solitude,  et  la 
guerre  ou  la  victoire  veut  (votre  Altesse  le  salt) 
tout  I'Europe. 

Quatrieme.  La  nation  Francoise  a  toujours 
honore  les  lettres,  qui  I'ont  honore  a  leur  tour  — 
sa  gloire  s'achevant  par  la  valeur  s'est  commencee 
par  les  lettres  —  I'Empereur  Napoleon  a  laisse 
Gottingen  et  Heidelberg  aux  Muses. 

Esperances. 

L  J'espere  que  la  piece  ci-jointe,  quoiqu'elle 
flatte  plus  qu'elle  ne  peint,  prouvera  a  Votre  Al- 
tesse, que  j'ai  obtenu  quelques  suffrages  de  ma 
nation  pour  mes  oeuvres  romantiques,  philoso- 
phiques  et  morales. 

IL  J'espere,  qu'en  cas  de  guerre  ma  maison,  ou 
plustot  mon  etude  sera  exemte  de  la  charge  d'avoir 
des  troupes  en  quartier  et  qu'elle  demeurera  I'asyle 
de  ma  Muse. 

Demande. 
J'implore  I'humanite  de  Votre  Altesse  a  realiser 
ces  esperances, apres  les  avoir  pardonnees.   Q,u'une 
ligne  de  Votre  main  veuille  m'assurer  la  paix,  que 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  171 

meritent  la  poesie  et  la  philosophie,  parce  qu'elles 
la  propagent.  La  main  vaillante  verse  le  sang  ; 
la  main  bienfaisante  tarit  les  larmes  —  mais  Vous 
aves  les  deux  mains. 

Je  suis,  Monseigneur,  avec  le  respect  le  plus 
profond 

Votre  Altesse 

tres-humble  serviteur 

Jean  Paul  Fr.  Richter. 

Richter  thus  disarmed  his  enemies  ;  he  was  per- 
mitted to  pursue  his  labors  without  interruption, 
and  soon  produced  the  comic  works  already  men- 
tioned. By  his  wit  he  escaped,  also,  another  un- 
just imposition.  He  had  been  taxed,  together 
with  the  capitalists  of  Bayreuth,  to  support  the 
war.  He  wrote  to  the  minister,  and  asked  "  if  one 
who  had  only  money  enough  for  his  daily  wants, 
and  who  was  indebted  to  Bayreuth  for  nothing  but 
beer  and  ennui,  could  be  reckoned  a  capitalist  — 
that  he  would  pay  a  just,  although  he  would  deny 
an  unjust  demand,  if  it  were  only  four  grotschen, 
for  all  was  indifferent  to  him  except  justice." 
The  minister  answered,  "  that,  as  the  exact  tariff 
could  not  be  fixed,  thought  was  free  from  contri- 
bution," and  invited  Richter  to  dine  with  him. 

We  have  seen  that   Richter  did  not,   in   the 


172  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

darkest  times,  share  the  universal  depression  of  his 
country ;  a  prophetic  insight  into  the  future  ena- 
bled him  to  penetrate  the  cloud,  and  to  see  that 
an  eclipse  was  not  the  end  of  all  things.  In  all 
his  political  writings,  an  unwavering  hope,  like  the 
voice  and  guarantee  of  Providence,  leads  him 
through  that  dark  time.  But  when  roused,  as  by 
the  voice  of  a  trumpet,  all  Germany  arose  against 
the  power  of  Napoleon,  no  one  entered  with  word 
and  deed  more  warmly  into  the  holy  cause  than 
Jean  Paul.  In  his  ^' Dawning  for  Germany, ^^  he 
did  not  limit  himself  to  prophesying  from  the  whole 
course  of  history  a  better  future  for  Germany,  or 
to  reminding  the  nation  of  its  power  and  advan- 
tages ;  he  strove  to  destroy  that  oppressive  feeling 
of  the  preponderance  of  the  French,  which  had 
extended  to  all  ranks  ;  that  eye  and  spirit-bHnding 
belief  in  the  star  of  Napoleon,  that  weighed  with 
almost  Turkish  fatality  upon  the  people.  With  a 
courage  that  bordered  on  rashness,  he  endeavored 
to  confine  the  admiration  of  Napoleon  within  its 
just  limits.  He  often  asked  the  question,  ''  what 
then  does  a  great  conqueror  deserve  ?  "  He  placed 
his  merit  beneath  the  science  of  a  Newton,  the 
courage  of  a  Socrates  or  a  Cato,  and  the  admira- 
ble wisdom  of  the  true  republicans  of  all  time,  etc. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PA.UL.  173 

And  this  he  ventured  to  write  and  pubhsh,  while 
he  owed  his  freedom  in  his  own  house  to  the 
French  marshal  Davoust. 

How  gloriously  is  he  contrasted  with  another 
great  poet  of  the  time,  who  was  living  joyously  in 
retirement,  drinking  cape  wine,  busy  with  his  op- 
tics, and  studying  osteology,  for  which  "there 
could  not  be  a  better  opportunity,  for  every  battle- 
field of  his  country  was  sown  with  preparations."  * 

^  Knebel  wrote  to  Richter,  after  the  battle  of  Jena  :  "  Goethe 
sent  me,  in  my  necessity,  a  couple  of  flasks  of  cape  wine,  that 
came  at  the  exact  time  to  a  man  that  the  French  had  wholly 
drank  dry.  He  was  the  whole  time  busy  with  his  optics.  We 
study  here  under  his  instruction,  osteology,  for  which  it  is  an 
excellent  time,  as  every  field  is  sown  with  preparations." 


CHAPTER  III. 


PECUNIARY  EMBARRASSMENTS.  PRINCE  DALBERG. 

PAUL  RECEIVES  A  SMALL  PENSION. EXTRACT 

FROM  VARNHAGEN  VON  ENSe's  MEMOIRS. 

A  D  1808  I^icHTER  at  this  time  suffered  some  anxiety 
aged  4o.  ^^  account  of  his  diminished  pecuniary 
resources.  The  book  concerns  of  the  time  were 
becoming  every  day  more  unfavorable,  and  pressed 
heavily  upon  authors.  A  great  work  required  from 
him  concentrated  attention,  leisure,  and  quiet 
thought ;  neither  of  which  could  he  command, 
feeling,  as  he  did,  deep  sympathy  with  the  troubles 
of  his  country  ;  neither  would  the  booksellers  ven- 
ture upon  any  large  work ;  he  was  obliged,  there- 
fore, to  break  down  and  divide  his  powers  in  the 
production  of  many  of  the  ephemeral  essays  of 
the  day.  At  this  time  and  talent-consuming  em- 
ployment, he  worked  so  incessantly  that  at  last  his 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  175 

firm  health  was  shaken,'  and  immediate  rest  or 
recreation  became  absolutely  requisite. 

He  was  attacked  with  a  tertian  fever  that  obliged 
him  to  give  up  writing  every  third  day.  "  On  that 
day,"  he  says,  "he  read  philosophy,  and  was  able 
to  forget  the  ague  fit  when  the  shaking  would  per- 
mit him  to  hold  the  book." 

Richter  had  dedicated  his  "  Peace  Sermons  "  to 
Carl  Von  Dalberg,^  Prince  Primate  of  the  Confed- 
eration of  the  Rhine.  In  this  dedication  he  hinted 
so  delicately  at  his  poverty  that  the  prince,  in  an 
extremely  gracious  answer,  was  obliged  to  ask  him 
to  declare  his  wishes. 

*  Jean  Paul's  contributions  to  the  periodical  literature  of  the 
day,  fill  several  volumes  of  his  collected  works.  The  titles  of 
some  of  these  contributions  are,"  upon  the  Advantages  of  being 
Deaf  in  one  Ear  ;  "  "  June  Night  Thoughts;  "  ''  The  Dream 
of  a  Madman  ;  "  "  Marriage  Looking-glasses  ;  "  "  The  Pleas- 
ure we  feel  in  the  Joys  of  Children  ;  "  "  Fragments  from  my 
art  of  always  being  Cheerful ;  "  "  Upon  the  Evergreen  of  our 
Feelings,"  and  many  reviews  of  modern  works. 

*  This  prince  is  mentioned  so  often,  that  it  should  be  known 
that  he  was  one  of  the  most  generous  noble  men  of  the  time, 
and  a  munificent  patron  of  literature.  He  was  Archbishop  of 
Ratesbon  and  Bishop  of  Worms,  and  is  the  same  Prince  Bishop 
that  Betine  Brantano  mentions  so  playfully  and  so  pleasantly 
in  Goethe's  Correspondence  loith  a  Child.  "  In  1813  he  volunta- 
rily resigned  all  his  possessions  as  a  sovereign  prince,  retaining 
only  })is  ecclesiastical  dignity,  and  retired  to  private  life.  He 
afterwards  devoted  himself  to  letters,  and  published  many  moral 


176  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Richter  answered ;  '^  An  author  of  more  than 
forty  volumes,  an  orphan,  who  has  Hved  more  for, 
than  hy  the  sciences,  ventures  now,  after  three 
years'  war,  the  birth  of  three  children,  and  the 
failure  of  three  of  his  booksellers,  to  wish  for  a 
winter  pension  to  enable  him  to  recover  his  health 
through  more  reading,  and  less  writing." 

It  was  not  in  the  prince's  power  to  do  more 
at  the  moment  than  to  send  Jean  Paul  a  consid- 
erable present,  with  a  most  kind  and  courteous 
letter.  But  early  in  the  following  year  he  sur- 
prised him  with  a  pension  of  a  thousand  guilders, 
(four  hundred  dollars,)  which  he  paid  out  of  his 
private  purse  until  1811,  when  the  payment  of  the 
same  sum  was  placed  on  the  common  pension  fund 
of  Bavaria. 

Richter  was  now  in  comparatively  happy  circum- 
stances. With  their  simple  habits,  and  his  Caro- 
line's good  economy  and  watchfulness,  four  hun- 
dred dollars,  in  addition  to  his  daily  earnings, 
made  them  rich. 

A  letter  to  Otto,  who  was  separated  from  him 
by  the  war,  is  characteristic  of  this  period. 

..."  How  often  this  winter  have  I  wished 
that  you  could   have  met  me  in  the  street,  or  in 

and  legal  treatises."     It  was  a  brother  of  this  prince  who  was 
Schiller's  first  patron.  —  Coversations  Lex. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  177 

the  Harmony,  then  you  would  have  seen  my  little 
squirrel  upon  my  shoulder,  who  bites  no  longer. 
I  ventured  to  carry  him  in  my  pocket  when  I  held 
Dobineck's  son  before  the  baptism  font ;  but  I  was 
obliged  to  grasp  hihri  several  times,  and  wind  him 
in  my  handkerchief,  for  if,  while  I  held  the  blessed 
little  godson  in  my  arms,  the  rogue  had  crept  upon 
my  shoulder,  there  would  have  been  a  universal 
disturbance  of  the  baptism,  and  everything  serious. 
At  this  moment  the  little  fellow  sleeps  upon  my 
sofa. 

"  Had  it  not  been  for  the  war,  my  Lcvana  would 
have  come  to  a  second  edition  —  wonderful !  For 
none  of  my  books  have  I  so  much  feared  the 
judgment  of  the  public,  and  of  fate  ;  as  much  as  I 
hoped,  by  the  Titan  —  but  the  pubhc  always  sur- 
prises one  so,  at  least  unpleasantly.  My  inmost 
being  remains  strong,  dry,  cold !  The  spring, 
with  all  its  starry  heaven,  has  not  melted  me.  I 
would  remain  strong  and  cold,  even  till  the  great 
world's  game  of  Europe  is  won.  Opposition  only 
spurs  me  on,  to  work,  to  work  with  the  best,  and 
with  the  utmost  of  my  powers  for  the  improvement 
of  all.  .  .  .  What  time  destroys,  these  exertions 
will  restore.  If  the  devils  are  a  majority,  yet  the 
angels  are  a  larger  —  yes,  I  say  a  larger,  for  in 
human   nature  ten  angels  are  worth  a  hundred 

VOL.    II.  12 


178  LIFE   OF  JEAN   PAUL. 

devils  :  were  it  not  so,  the  excess  of  weak,  foolish, 
and  bad,  would  long  since  have  sunk  humanity, 
instead  of  saving  it.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  '•  I  rejoice  even  now  at  your  future  joy 
over  my  three  unlike,  but  unspoilt  rose-buds  of 
children  —  and  it  is  difficult  to  say  which  will  be 
your  favorite.  Ah,  were  you  here !  and  yet  I 
cannot  desire  it,  as  you  are  now  building  your 
future  fortune.  You  have,  on  account  of  your 
knowledge  and  desert,  the  greater  claims.  This 
war  should  give  you  full  confidence  in  the  friendly 
genius  that  goes  with  you  through  life.  Your  rare 
fortune  has  rejoiced,  but  not  surprised  me,  and  had 
you  anything  of  my  bold  grasp  into  life,  you  would 
have  had  it  before.  I  am  curious  whether  you 
will  appear  to  me  like  a  man  of  the  world  when  I 
see  you  again.  I  should  think  all  these  grand 
persons  would  make  you  a  little  bold.  My  wife 
greets  you  heartily,  and  we  both  wish  you  the 
balsam  and  nourishment  of  joy." 

At  this  period,  1808,  Richter  received  a  visit 
from  Herr  Varnhagen  von  Ense.  He  has  left  in 
his  memoirs  such  a  pleasant  account  of  him  and 
his  family,  that  the  reader  will  pardon  me  for 
introducing  it  here. 

"  This  forenoon  (it  was  the  23d  October,)  I 
went  to  Jean  Paul's.     A  pleasant,  kindly,  inquisi- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  179 

tive  woman,  who  had  opened  the  door  to  me,  I  at 
once  recognised  for  Jean  Paul's  wife  by  her  hke- 
ness  to  her  sister.  A  child  was  sent  off  to  call  its 
father.  He  came  directly  ;  he  had  been  forewarn- 
ed of  my  visit  by  letters  from  Berlin  and  Leipsic  ; 
and  received  me  with  great  kindness. 

"  First  of  all  I  had  to  tell  him  what  I  was  charg- 
ed with  in  the  shape  of  messages,  then  whatsoever 
I  could  tell  in  any  way,  about  his  Berlin  friends. 
He  willingly  remembered  the  time  he  had  hved  in 
Berlin,  as  Marcus  Herz's  neighbor,  in  Leder's 
house,  where  I,  seven  years  before,  had  first  seen 
him  in  the  garden  by  the  Spree,  with  papers  in 
his  hand,  which  it  was  privately  whispered  were 
leaves  of  Hesperus.  This  talk  about  persons,  and 
then  still  more  about  literature  growing  out  of  that, 
set  him  fairly  underway,  and  soon  he  had  more  to 
impart  than  to  inquire.  His  conversation  was 
throughout  amiable  and  good-natured,  always  full 
of  meaning,  but  in  quite  simple  tone  and  expres- 
sion. Though  I  knew  beforehand  that  his  wit  and 
humor  belonged  only  to  his  pen,  that  he  could 
hardly  write  the  shortest  note  without  these  intro- 
ducing themselves,  while  on  the  contrary  his  oral 
utterance  seldom  showed  the  like,  —  yet  it  struck 
me  much  that,  in  this  continual  movement  and 
vivacity  of  mood  to  which  he  yielded  himself,  I 


180 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


observed  no  trace  of  these  qualities.  His  demeanor 
otherwise  was  Hke  his  speaking  ;  nothing  forced, 
nothing  studied,  nothing  that  went  beyond  the 
burgher  tone.  His  courtesy  was  the  free  expression 
of  a  kind  heart  ;  his  way  and  bearing  were  patri- 
archal, considerate  of  the  stranger,  yet  for  himself 
too  altogether  unconstrained.  Neither  in  the  ani- 
mation to  which  some  word  or  topic  would  excite 
him,  was  this  fundamental  temper  ever  altered  ; 
nowhere  did  severity  appear,  nowhere  any  exhibit- 
ing of  himself,  any  watching  or  spying  of  his 
hearer  ;  everywhere  kind-heartedness,  free  move- 
ment of  his  somewhat  loose-flowing  nature,  open 
course  for  him,  with  a  hundred  transitions  from 
one  course  to  the  other,  howsoever  or  whitherso- 
ever it  seemed  good  to  him  to  go.  At  first  he 
praised  everything  that  was  named  of  our  new 
appearances  in  literature ;  and  then  when  we 
came  a  little  closer  to  the  matter,  there  was  blame 
enough  and  to  spare.  So  of  Adam  Miiller's  Lec- 
tures, of  Friedrich  Schlegel,  of  Tieck  and  others. 
He  said,  German  writers  ought  to  hold  by  the  peo- 
ple, not  by  the  upper  classes,  among  whom  all  was 
already  dead  and  gone  ;  and  yet  he  had  just  been 
praising  Adam  Miiller,  that  he  had  the  gift  of 
speaking  a  deep  word  to  cultivated  people  of  the 
world.     He  is  convinced  that  from  the  opening  of 


LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL.  181 

the  old  Indian  world  nothing  is  to  be  got  for  us, 
except  the  adding  of  one  other  mode  of  poetry  to 
the  many  modes  we  have  already,  but  no  increase 
of  ideas:  and  yet  he  had  just  been  celebrating 
Friedrich  Schlegel's  labors  with  the  Sanscrit,  as  if 
a  new  salvation  were  to  issue  out  of  that.  He 
was  free  to  confess  that  a  right  Christian  in  these 
days,  if  not  a  Protestant  one,  was  inconceivable  to 
him  ;  that  changing  from  Protestantism  to  Catho- 
licism seemed  a  monstrous  perversion  ;  and  with 
this  opinion  great  hope  had  been  expressed,  a  few 
minutes  before,  that  the  Catholic  spirit  in  Friedrich 
Schlegel,  combined  with  the  Indian,  would  pro- 
duce much  good  I  Of  Schleiermacher  he  spoke 
with  respect ;  signified,  however,  that  he  did  not 
relish  his  '  Plato '  greatly ;  that  in  Jacobi's,  in 
Herder's  soaring  flight  of  soul  he  traced  far  more 
of  those  divine  old  sages  than  in  the  learned  acu- 
men of  Schleiermacher  ;  a  deliverance  which  I 
could  not  let  pass  without  protest.  Fichte,  of 
whose  '  Addresses  to  the  German  Nation,'  held  in 
Berlin  under  the  sound  of  French  drums,  I  had 
much  to  say,  was  not  a  favorite  of  his  ;  the  deci- 
siveness of  that  energy  gave  him  uneasiness ;  he 
said  he  could  only  read  Fichte  as  an  exercise, 
'  gymnastically,'  and  that  with  the  purport  of  his 
philosophy  he  had  now  nothing  more  to  do. 


182  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

"  Jean  Paul  was  called  out,  and  I  staid  awhile 
alone  with  his  wife.  I  had  now  to  answer  many 
new  questions  about  Berlin  ;  her  interest  in  per- 
sons and  things  of  her  native  town  was  by  no 
means  sated  with  what  she  had  already  heard. 
The  lady  pleased  me  exceedingly  ;  soft,  refined, 
acute,  she  united  with  the  loveliest  expression  of 
household  goodness  an  air  of  higher  breeding  and 
freer  management  than  Jean  Paul  seemed  to  mani- 
fest. Yet,  in  this  respect  too,  she  wilhngly  held 
herself  inferior,  and  looked  up  to  her  gifted  hus- 
band. It  was  apparent  every  way  that  their  life 
together  was  a  right  happy  one.  Their  three 
children,  a  boy  and  two  girls,  are  beautiful, 
healthy,  well-conditioned  creatures.  I  had  a 
hearty  pleasure  in  them  ;  they  recalled  other  dear 
children  to  my  thoughts,  whom  I  had  lately  been 
beside  !  .  .  . 

"  With  continual  copiousness,  and  in  the  best 
humor,  Jean  Paul  (we  were  now  at  table)  expatiated 
on  all  manner  of  objects.  Among  the  rest,  I  had 
been  charged  with  a  salutation  from  Rahel  Levin 
to  him,  and  the  modest  question,  '  Whether  he 
remembered  her  still  ? '  His  face  beamed  with 
joyful  satisfaction  :  '  How  could  one  forget  such  a 
person  ? '  cried  he  impressively.  '  That  is  a  woman 
alone  of  her  kind :  I  hked  her  heartily  well,  and 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


183 


more  now  than  ever,  as  I  gain  in  sense  an  appre- 
hension to  do  it ;  she  is  the  only  woman  in  whom 
I  have  found  genuine  humor,  the  one  woman  of 
this  world  who  had  humor  ! '  He  called  me  a 
lucky  fellow  to  have  such  a  friend  ;  and  asked,  as 
if  proving  me  and  measuring  my  value,  '  How  I 
had  deserved  that  ? ' 

<^  Monday,  24th  October. 

"  Being  invited,  I  went  a  second  time  to  dine. 
Jean  Paul  had  just  returned  from  a  walk ;  his 
wife,  with  one  of  the  children,  was  still  out.  We 
came  upon  his  writings  ;  that  questionable  string 
with  most  authors,  which  the  one  will  not  have 
you  touch,  which  another  will  have  you  keep 
jinghng  continually.  He  was  here  what  I  ex- 
pected him  to  be  ;  free,  unconstrained,  good-na- 
tured, and  sincere  with  his  whole  heart.  His 
'  Dream  of  a  Madman,'  just  published  by  Cotta, 
was  what  had  led  us  upon  this.  He  said  he  could 
write  such  things  at  any  time  ;  the  mood  for  it, 
when  he  was  in  health,  lay  in  his  own  power ;  he 
did  but  seat  himself  at  the  harpsichord,  and  fanta- 
sying  for  a  while  on  it,  in  the  wildest  way,  deliver 
himself  over  to  the  feeling  of  the  moment,  and 
then  write  his  imaginings,  —  according  to  a  cer- 
tain predetermined  course,  indeed,  which  however 
he  would  often  alter  as  he  went  on.     In  this  kind 


184  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

he  had  once  undertaken  to  write  a  ^  Hell,'  such  as 
mortal  never  heard  of;  and  a  great  deal  of  it  is 
actually  done,  but  not  fit  for  print.  Speaking  of 
descriptive  composition,  he  also  started  as  in  fright 
when  I  ventured  to  say  that  Goethe  was  less  com- 
plete in  this  province ;  he  reminded  me  of  two 
passages  in  '  Werter,'  which  are  indeed  among 
the  finest  descriptions.  He  said  that  to  describe 
any  scene  well  the  poet  must  make  the  bosom  of 
a  man  his  camera  obsciira,  and  look  at  it  through 
this,  then  would  he  see  it  poetically.  .  .  . 

^'  The  conversation  turned  on  public  occurrences, 
on  the  condition  of  Germany,  and  the  oppressive 
rule  of  the  French.  To  me  discussions  of  that 
sort  are  usually  disagreeable  ;  but  it  was  delightful 
to  hear  Jean  Paul  express,  on  such  occasion,  his 
noble  patriotic  sentiments ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
this  rock-island  I  willingly  swam  through  the 
empty  tide  of  uncertain  news  and  wavering  sup- 
positions which  environed  it.  What  he  said  was 
deep,  considerate,  hearty,  valiant,  German  to  the 
marrow  of  the  bone.  I  had  to  tell  him  much  ;  of 
Napoleon,  whom  he  knew  only  by  portraits  ;  of 
Johannes  von  Miiller ;  of  Fichte,  whom  he  now 
as  a  patriot  admired  cordially  ;  of  the  Marquez  de 
la  Romana  and  his  Spaniards,  whom  I  had  seen 
in  Hamburg.     Jean  Paul  said  he  at  no  moment 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  185 

doubted,  but  the  Germans,  like  the  Spaniards, 
would  one  day  rise,  and  Prussia  would  avenge  its 
disgrace,  and  free  the  country  ;  he  hoped  his  son 
would  live  to  see  it,  and  did  not  deny  that  he  was 
bringing  him  up  for  a  soldier.  .  .  . 

"  October  25th, 

"I  staid  to  supper,  contrary  to  my  purpose, 
having  to  set  out  next  morning  early.  The  lady 
was  so  kind,  and  Jean  Paul  himself  so  trustful  and 
blithe,  I  could  not  withstand  their  entreaties.  At 
the  neat  and  well-furnished  table  (reminding  you 
that  South  Germany  was  now  near)  the  best  humor 
reigned.  Among  other  things  we  had  a  good 
laugh  at  this,  that  Jean  Paul  offered  me  an  intro- 
duction to  one  of,  what  he  called  his  dearest 
friends  in  Stuttgart,  —  and  then  was  obliged  to 
give  it  up,  having  irrevocably  forgotten  his  name  ! 
Of  a  more  serious  sort  again  was  our  conversation 
about  Tieck,  Friedrich  and  Wilhelm  Sch]egel,and 
others  of  the  romantic  school.  He  seemed  in  ill 
humor  with  Tieck  at  the  moment.  Of  Goethe  he 
said :  '  Goethe  is  a  consecrated  head ;  he  has  a 
place  of  his  own,  high  above  us  all.'  We  spoke 
of  Goethe  afterwards  for  some  time  :  Jean  Paul, 
with  more  and  more  admiration,  nay,  with  a  sort 
of  fear  and  awe-struck  reverence. 

"  Some  beautiful  fruit  was  brought  in  for  dessert. 


186  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

On  a  sudden,  Jean  Paul  started  up,  gave  me  his 
hand,  and  said  :  '  Forgive  me,  I  must  go  to  bed  ! 
Stay  you  here  in  God's  name,  for  it  is  still  early, 
and  chat  with  my  wife  ;  there  is  much  to  say,  be- 
tween you,  which  my  talking  has  kept  back.  I 
am  a  Spiessburger,^  (of  the  club  of  Odd  Fellows,) 
'and  my  hour  is  come  for  sleep.'  He  took  a 
candle,  and  said,  good  night.  We  parted  with 
great  cordiality,  and  the  wish  expressed  on  both 
sides,  that  I  might  stay  at  Bayreuth  another  time." 


CHAPTER  IV. 


DOMESTIC  LETTERS.  JOURNEY  TO  ERLANGEN.  

JOURNEY  TO  NURNBERG. JACOBI. 

We  pass  over  three  quiet  years,  in  ^d  jgii 
which  no  event  of  importance  occurred.  ^^'''^  '^^' 
Through  his  pension,  Paul's  circumstances  were 
easier,  and  a  Uttle  journey  to  Erlangen  affords  an 
opportunity  for  inserting  a  letter  to  Caroline,  which 
proves  that  after  eleven  years  of  married  life,  no 
flower  had  faded  from  their  wreath  of  love  and 
happiness. 

Jane,  1811 

"  My  dear  good  Caroline.  Like  this  beautiful 
morning  has  your  long  wished-for  letter  come  to 
me.  Every  word  of  it  was  welcome.  Fortunately, 
I  did  not  receive  it  till  the  evening,  when  I  long 
heartbreakingly  for  you  and  the  children. 

"  Max,  was  on  the  way  so  tender,  pleasant,  and 


188  LIFE     OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

apparently  so  contented,  loving  all,  obeying  all, 
(he  certainly  forgets  nothing  on  a  journey,)  and  so 
good,  that  I  began  to  perceive  that  I  could  gather 
the  fruit  of  the  education  of  my  children,  and  how 
much  better  they  really  are,  than  they  sometimes 
appear.  He  slept  at  night  vi^ithout  undressing, 
and  without  a  bedcover,  like  one  dead  ;  and  in 
the  morning  he  was  lively,  spirited  and  gay.  The 
thought  that  I  must  leave  him,  would  not,  the 
whole  day,  go  from  my  soul. 

"The  middle-aged  Madam  S.  comes  when  I 
ring,  and  is  respectful  and  ready,  and  makes  my 
coffee  and  bed  as  I  like  them.  Toussaint  fulfils 
every  wish,  so  does  the  obliging  professor  Mehmel. 
In  the  morning,  heaven  dwells  in  my  solitary  apart- 
ment, full  only  of  books,  and  I  am  as  homelike, 
but  more  alone,  than  at  Bayreuth.  I  went  into 
the  Italian  garden,  that  stands  open  without  key, 
and,  without  kreutzers,  on  the  day  of  the  great 
penticost  church  consecration,  which  Otto  can 
paint  for  you  without  ink.  This  garden  terrace  is 
the  only  throne  of  nature  in  the  beggarly  environs 
of  Erlangen.  This  alone  would  frighten  me  from 
a  residence  here,  which  they  all  wish  to  persuade 
me  to.  I  am  unusually  well,  and  joke  frequently 
in  society.  .  .  . 

"  I  put  by  the  pen,  to  sup  better  than  usual. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


189 


First  a  morsel  of  cheese,  then  a  morsel  of  dessert 
cake  —  ah  !  sliced  potatoes,  where  are  ye  ?  For 
in  a  whole  week,  none. 

"June  12. 

"  Since  Sunday,  for  eight  days,  not  a  Une ! 
This  one  cloud,  which  is  indeed  broad  enough, 
draws  itself  through  my  blue  heaven.  Had  I  not, 
since  two  months,  certain  grounds  of  consolation, 
or  today,  not  a  wonderful  confidence  in  my  anti- 
cipations that  my  present  cheerfulness  does  not 
indicate  future  misfortunes,  I  should  become  fear- 
ful through  your  silence  —  Heavens  !  how  much 
you  have  to  tell  me,  and  formerly  you  were  so 
industrious  a  letter-writer  !  Be  joyful,  good  Caro- 
line. 

"14. 

"  At  last  I  am  happy,  without  alloy.  Take,  for 
every  heart's  word,  and  heart's  deed,  in  my  ab- 
sence, heart's  thanks  !  Last  Sunday  I  was  pro- 
perly frightened  that  I  forgot  your  birth-day,  and  I 
found  it  in  the  calendar  under  the  name  of  Lu- 
cretia.  After  my  return  we  will  celebrate  it  on 
a  fixed  day.  If  you  gave  attention,  you  will  have 
seen  that  the  last  week  in  May  I  wore  your  ring 
on  the  litde  finger  of  my  left  hand.  The  heart 
should  also  have  its  festivals.'     I  could  be  borne 

'  The  last  week  in   May  was  the  anniversary  of  Richter's 


190  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

on  the  waves  of  society  here,  for  every  one  comes 
lovingly  to  me  ;  but  I  have  so  many  books  before 
me,  that  I  keep  myself  solitary  —  in  the  evening, 
reading,  and  eating  with  my  dog  only.  Either 
the  old,  true,  French  wine,  of  which  I  drink  daily 
a  quarter  of  a  bottle,  or  the  air,  or  very  rarely  a 
draft  of  rosaliera,  or  the  less  work,  or  all  together, 
make  me  more  healthy  than  I  have  been  for  years. 
No  thirst,  no  dry  heat,  no  tremblings ;  pardon 
these  little  bodily  trifles  —  but  you,  dear  wife,  take 
in  these  as  much  part  as  I  should  in  the  smallest 
of  your  ailments. 

"  Next  day. 

"  Yesterday  I  was  in  Nurnberg  with  the  Hof- 
meister,  young  Rottenheim,  and  the  bookseller  — 
I  was  pleased  with  the  southern,  joyful,  hearty 
tone  of  the  people.  M.  will  return  with  me  on 
Friday.     How  new  and  beautiful  all  will  appear 

marriage.  His  finding  his  wife's  birth-day  under  the  name  of 
Lucretia,  is  thus  explained.  The  German  custom  was  to  cele- 
brate, not  only  the  birth-day,  but  the  day  in  the  almanac  that 
bore  the  person's  christian  name.  The  old  almanacs  contained 
a  name  for  every  day  in  the  year,  the  name  of  a  saint,  or  some 
other  remarkable  person.  When  Jean  Paul,  then,  proposed 
fixing  a  day  to  celebrate  Caroline's  birth-day,  he  would  probably 
choose  the  day  that  bore  the  name  of  Caroline.  I  am  indebted 
for  this  explanation  to  the  notes  upon  Mr.  Iracey's  charming 
translation  of  Undine. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  191 

to  me !  If  you  have  experienced  anything  that 
will  not  be  pleasant  to  me,  write  it,  that  I  may  for- 
get it  on  the  way,  and  the  heavenly  evening  of  our 
meeting  again  pass  without  a  cloud.  Ah !  the 
post  draws  near,  and  I  have  so  much  to  say  to  my 
faithful  friend,  who  has  done  so  much  for  me,  and 
loves  me  so  fervently.  Heavens  !  how  often  have 
I  thought  of  you  with  overpowering  extasy,  when, 
at  night,  your  face,  with  its  indescribable  love's 
eyes,  and  love's  glance,  has  suddenly  appeared  to 
me,  as  a  form  out  of  the  empty  air.  But  that  ex- 
tasy remains  a  reality  for  me  yet  —  for  you  live, 
and  I  return.  Ah,  it  goes  to  your  soul  as  to 
mine." 

The  following  year  Richter  went  to  Nurnberg 
to  meet  Jacobi.  The  reader  will  recollect  that 
they  had  corresponded  for  some  years,  but  had 
never  met. 

After  mentioning  the  discomforts  of  their  inn  in 
a  letter  to  Otto,  he  goes  on  to  describe  his  friend. 
"  I  played  with  accustomed  moderation  the  lamb, 
and  remained  sedate,  only  saying  to  my  ever-hasty 
companion,  '  In  the  morning  we  shall  have  time 
enough.'  I  can  now  bear  witness  to  my  second 
remark,  that  there  is  no  better  sign  of  a  pleasant 
future  than  when  the  first  hour  in  an  inn  is  miser- 
able and  uncomfortable.  .  .  . 


192  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

"  At  eleven  I  held  to  my  heart  a  brother  and 
friend  of  old  longings.'  He  is  not  a  man  of  the 
world,  but  in  the  most  precious  sense  a  quiet,  no- 
ble ancient.  It  seems  to  me  that  I  only  meet  him 
again  after  long  separation,  we  sympathize  so  en- 
tirely ;  his  sisters  also  please  me.  In  the  evening 
they  usually  go  early  to  bed,  and  I  sit  alone  with 
Jacobi.  They  bid  me  not  to  suffer  him  to  speak 
much  of  his  childhood  ;  but  often  as  we  have  been 
together,  we  have  scarcely  begun  to  talk,  and  the 
eternal  conversation  upon  philosophy,  more  rarely 
disputing  than  agreeing,  will  leave  scarcely  room 
for  questions  about  his  early  life  and  former   con- 


*  Jacobi  was  the  herald  of  the  new  faith.  He  discovered  the 
weakness  and  insufficiency  of  the  Kantian  system,  and  showed 
the  emptiness  and  lameness  of  a  system,  the  religious  concep- 
tions of  which  do  not  extend  beyond  a  narrow  and  cold  mo- 
rality ;  which  sees  nothing  in  Christianity  but  a  code  of  duties ; 
and  represents  the  Creator  of  the  universe  as  a  mere  Supreme 
Being  —  apart  from  i]is  creation  and  from  man.  But  he  fell 
into  the  opposite  extreme  ;  he  denounced  philosophy  generally, 
and  declared  revealed  religion  to  be  the  sole  and  exclusive 
source  of  truth.  In  his  work,  directed  against  Schelling's  book, 
Of  Divine  Things,  and  their  Revelation,  he  declares  it  as  his 
opinion,  "  that  philosophy  is  impotent  to  clear  up  the  eternal 
mystery,  and  that  we  receive  light  through  divine  grace  alone, 
not  through  human  reason."  Richter  did  not  assent  to  these 
opinions,  and  expresses  to  Otto  his  displeasure  at  this  one-sided 
view  of  the  question. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL, 


193 


nections.  He  seeks  earnestly,  and  with  pure, 
warm  zeal,  unestablished  truth.  ...  In  the  first 
quarter  of  an  hour  he  observed  my  wavering  play- 
fulness between  jest  and  earnest,  and  as  I  excused 
myself,  his  sisters  said,  '  he  did  the  same  himself ;' 
but  he  does  not  appear  to  me  to  have  the  true  dis- 
position for  humor,  and  he  said  himself  that  he 
could  not  read  through  the  Katzenburger  and  the 
Fibel,  He  is  always  calm,  not  cold,  and  it  is  as 
easy  to  him  to  speak  to,  to  listen  to,  and  to  satisfy 
his  enemies,  as  it  is  difficult  for  me  to  do  so. 

"  He  remained  till  midnight  alone  with  me,  and 
with  the  shadow  of  the  lamp-screen  resting  upon 
his  face,  speaking  sofdy,  and  yet  listening  to  the 
mightiest  themes.  And  yet,  listen  !  He  will  give 
my  earthly  planet  a  new  impulse  around  his  higher 
sun,  and  be  as  much  to  me  as  Herder  was.  Yes, 
more  than  Herder.  Both  he  cannot  be  ;  and  yet, 
alas,  my  religious  desires  for  myself  can  be  fulfilled 
by  no  man  from  without  —  but  only  from  within, 
by  myself  alone.  '  Could  I  but  see  him,'  I  have 
hitherto  thought,  ^  I  should  become  a  new  man, 
and  desire  nothing  more  ! '    Ah  !  .  .  . 

"  He  can  be  from  morning  to  midnight  in  soci- 
ety, enjoying  visiting,  amusements,  and  driving, 
while  I  remain,  much  to  his  astonishment,  true  to 
my  old  rules,  and,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  anima- 

VOL.    II.  13 


194 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


ted  society,  escape  to  my  cool  solitude  to  reproach 
myself  after  exciting  amusements.  As  I  asked 
Jacobi  whether  I  did  not  carry  my  freedom  too 
far,  he  half  assented,  and  yet  in  such  a  way  that 
I  had  no  satisfaction  from  his  answer.  Besides, 
he  considers  too  much,  and  is  too  anxious  about 
appearances,  and  his  consideration  with  others, 
and  indeed  ventures  nothing.  Thus  he  earlier  ne- 
gatived my  question,  whether  I  should  say  in  my 
dedication  of  the  Clavis  to  him,  'that  he  had  read 
it  before  its  publication,'  although  he  had.  All 
the  reviews  of  his  and  Schelling's  books,  as  well 
as  the  notice  of  them  in  the  Hamburg  newspaper, 
he  carries,  neatly  folded  in  paper,  about  with  him ; 
in  all  he  is  praised.  The  other  day,  in  Erlangen, 
the  professors,  and  we  all,  had  drunk  his  health, 
he  stood  up,  and,  to  the  amazement  of  all,  went 
round  with  his  glass  and  touched  that  of  every  one 
at  the  table.  Something  of  this  belongs  to  his  age> 
and  to  the  four  female  hands  that  support  and 
rock  him.* 

"  He    wears  beautiful,  new-fashioned,    smooth 
white-topped  boots,  and  hosen  ^  of  good  nankin  ; 

*  These  are  the  same  aunts  Lehna  and  Lotta,  whose  excessive 
care  of  Jacobi, Bettine  describes  so  graphically,  in  "The  Corres- 
pondence of  a  Child." 

*  Gr.  for  indispensables. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  195 

and  a  gray  Russian  hat,  probably  on  account  of 
his  eyes. 

''  That  he  loves  me,  I  know  from  the  way  in 
which  he  takes  leave  of  me,  and  from  his  sisters, 
and  from  his  gentle  reproaches  if  I  do  not  go  to 
him  in  the  intervals  of  his  being  at  home  ;  but  how 
much  he  blames  me,  either  justly,  or  unjustly  I 
know  not.  He  speaks  often  of  his  own  works ; 
upon  my  personalities,  social,  or  literary  relations, 
he  asked  no  questions.  The  excess  of  our  mate- 
rials for  conversation  was  my  fault,  and  yet  there 
was  nothing  said  of  worldly  affairs,  and  not 
enough  of  Haman,  Goethe  and  Klopstock,  and  the 
little  that  was  said,  was  in  answer  to  my  questions. 
In  politics  he  is  probably  liberal.  The  rest  when 
we  meet." 

There  is  another  letter  of  the  same  date  to  his 
old  friend  Emanuel.  The  reader  will  recollect 
that  he,  as  well  as  Otto,  were  Richter's  neighbors 
in  Bayreuth. 

''  Nurnberg,  1812. 

''  You  gave  me  only  one  token  of  remembrance, 
namely,  the  packed  coffer.  As  I  unfolded  paper 
after  paper,  it  seemed  as  if  you  spake  a  word 
of  love  to  me  upon  each.  It  is  a  half  melancholy 
feeling  to  have  the  well-wishing  love  of  an  absent 
friend  before  one  in  solitude.     For  me  a  solitary 


196  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

apartment  is  a  spiritual  Brunning  hall,  full  of 
medicinal  water.  Solitude  shows  itself  in  new 
relations ;  not  in  your  own  solitary  apartment 
are  you  alone,  but  in  a  melancholy  palace.  I 
have,  ridiculously  as  it  sounds,  every  day  a  little 
perverseness,  a  little  contrariety  in  thinking  and 
acting.  I  write  every  morning  that  for  which  in 
practice  I  require  further  medicining. 

"  The  first  maxim  is :  'Do  everything  in  its 
time,  put  off  nothing ! '  and  then  I  have  the  night 
equipage  carried  out  of  the  room,  but  I  leave  the 
coffee  equipage  upon  the  other  table. 

"  The  second  day  I  write  :  '  Rise  above  little  in- 
conveniences '  —  that  is,  do  not  croak  and  cry  alas  ! 
when  in  the  morning  you  have  to  draw  your  shirt 
on  or  off,  or  even  your  narrow  Sunday  pantaloons 
and  the  rest,  before  you  can  sit  calmly  with  your 
book  upon  the  sofa. 

'^  The  third  morning :  '  After  having  been  in 
society,  have  nothing  to  repent,  but  be  rather  too 
fearful  than  too  bold.'  For,  my  good  friend,  when 
with  benevolent  intention  you  think  you  have 
spoken  only  boldly,  then  you  have  already  spoken 
too  boldly,  and  the  previous  improvement  is  to  be 
every  day  recapitulated. 

"  '  Arm  yourself  as  powerfully  against  evil  in 
others  as  in  yourself.'     That  I   do  not  obey  this 


I 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  197 

rule  shows  itself  in  my  continuing,  through  fancy, 
to  blacken  myself,  in  comparison  with  good  men. 
In  short,  there  are  no  other  means  in  heaven  or 
upon  earth  to  heal  and  content  the  inward  soul, 
tut  by  strengthening  that  inmost  soul  itself,  and  it 
is  foolish  to  think  small  helps  from  without  can  be 
lasting  means  of  improvement.  .  .  . 

"  Solitude  on  one's  birthday  is  the  only  worthy 
personal  celebration,  that  a  man,  thinking  calmly 
and  tenderly  on  the  path  behind  him,  and  measur- 
ing seriously  that  before  him,  can  permit  himself. 
I  hate  also  all  business  or  pleasurable  activity  on 
the  first  day  of  the  year.  Frail  and  feeble  man 
should  look  upon  such  elevations  in  time,  like  the 
spider  for  props  to  which  he  fastens  the  thread  of 
a  new  web.  All  weighty  things  are  done  in  soli- 
tude, that  is,  without  society.  The  means  of  im- 
provement consist  not  in  projects,  or  in  any  violent 
designs,  for  these  cool,  and  cool  very  soon  ;  but 
in  patient  practising  for  whole  long  days,  by  which 
I  make  the  thing  dear  to  my  highest  reason.  Rea- 
son works  longer  than  feeling,  and  enlightens 
more,  for  it  remains  after  the  other  has  departed. 
We  must  first  overcome  the  little  faults,  and  be 
easy  in  this  exercise  of  self-conquest,  before  we 
drive  away  the  greater  ;  and  yet  after  all  this,  a 
man  is  only  in  the  outer  court  of  the  Most  Holy, 


198  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

and  preparing  to  whip  out  of  himself  the  whole 
of  the  old  Adam  !  r." 

The  peace,  so  ardently  desired  and  so  accepta- 
ble to  Germany,  was  at  first  disastrous  to  Richter. 
The  abolishing,  by  the  congress  of  Vienna,  of  the 
grand  duchy  of  Frankfort,  and  taking  away  the 
immense  revenue  of  the  prince  primate  Dalberg, 
interrupted  the  payment  of  his  pension,  and  threat- 
ened to  suspend  it  entirely.  It  remained  unde- 
cided for  two  years,  and  Jean  Paul  found  himself 
constrained  to  send  a  multitude  of  petitions  to 
persons  of  both  sexes  connected  with  the  congress 
of  Vienna ;  among  others  to  the  emperor  Alexan- 
der, which  both  his  biographers  have  given  at  large, 
although  it  seems  to  us  less  important  than  many 
other  of  Paul's  productions.  After  waiting  two 
years  without  any  result,  he  presented  a  petition 
to  his  own  king  and  queen  of  Bavaria,  and  the 
payment  henceforth  was  placed  on  the  pension 
fund  of  the  kingdom,  and  regularly  received  by 
Richter.  That  it  was  not  immediately  necessary 
to  meet  his  everyday  expenses,  appears  from  a 
note  written  to  Otto,  on  the  Christmas  day  after 
he  was  secure  of  the  first  quarter's  payment.  All 
his  readers  must  rejoice  that  a  poet  had  money  to 
lend. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  199 

"December  25,  1815. 

''  A  joyful  festival,  my  Otto.  Inform  me,  when 
my  pension-money  comes,  whether  Emanuel  offers 
to  take  a  part  of  it  for  half  a  year.  Shall  I  not 
give  him  too  much  trouble,  or  can  he  even  use  it  ? 
I  remark,  that  when  men  lend  money,  they  value 
only  the  interest,  and  thereby  become  cursedly 
avaricious  —  so  I  will  lend  little,  and  spend  more. 

*^I  bring  you  a  long-cherished  prayer.  My 
purse  is  open  to  you  at  all  times  and  for  any  sum 
within  it.  Five  hundred  florins  '  lie  wholly  useless 
there  ;  so  that  I  deserve  nothing  by  the  change  to 
yours,  except  indeed  the  pleasure.  Enjoy  it  also, 
old  heart's  friend.  r." 

This  is  the  place  to  give  a  few  extracts  from  the 
private  journal  called  Via  recti,  which  was  begun 
this  year,  and  is  the  glass,  in  which  we  see  the 
man  and  the  author  reflected.  He  says  in  the  be- 
ginning "  I  am  a  libertine  only  from  within ;  I  en- 
joy neither  beer  nor  wi  le  ;  later,  I  have  enjoyed 
neither  company  nor  punch  ;  but  my  inward  fan- 
tasies, conceptions  and  representations,  have  re- 
duced and  consumed  my  life.  I  say  here,  and 
before  God,  that  in  all  my  works,  and  in  all  my 

'  The  half  of  his  pension. 


200  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

representations,  I  am  pure  from  all  but  the  best 
motives,  uninfluenced  by  poverty,  the  misunder- 
standing of  others,  sacrifices,  etc.  I  have  held  it 
my  duty,  not  to  enjoy,  or  to  gain,  but  to  wiite  — 
however,  much  time  or  money  I  have  thus  thrown 
away  —  yes,  joy  also  —  that  is,  the  sight  of  Swit- 
zerland, which  merely  the  sacrifice  of  time  forbade ! 
I  deny  myself  my  vesper  meal,  merely  to  work  ; 
but  I  cannot  deny  myself  the  interruption  that 
comes  from  my  children.  Eating,  drinking,  money, 
health  are  nothing  !  The  enjoyment  of  my  child- 
ren, nature,  religion,  assert  their  mastery." 

Paul's  nephew  relates  many  beautiful  instances 
of  the  pleasant  intercourse  he  maintained  with  his 
family.  "  Could  one  see  him  when  the  longing 
after  the  exchange  of  endearing  expressions  drew 
him  from  his  quiet  and  solitary  study  into  the  apart- 
ment of  his  wife.  In  his  eye  was  a  sunbeam  of 
the  purest  love,  while  the  loveliest  smile  played 
around  his  mouth  as  he  seemed  embarrassed  to 
find  an  excuse  for  coming."  Then,  on  the  first  of 
April,  his  delight  in  the  innocent  mirth  that  be- 
longed to  the  day.  He  would  mislead  every  one 
of  his  family,  and  the  maid  always  came  in  for  her 
share  of  the  mirth. 

Paul  proceeds  with  his  rules. 

"  Throw  little  pains  immediately  away. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  201 

^•'  Have  nothing  to  repent  in  society  ;  be  rather 
too  fearful,  than  too  bold. 

"  Show  love  only  to  children,  not  pain,  or  only 
that  which  will  excite  pity,  not  shame. 

"  Leave  a  good,  but  passionate  man,  time  to  re- 
solve and  cool,  as  you  aslo  need,  yourself. 

^'  Say  not  at  the  first  moment  no,  but  wait. 

"  To  love  only  one  man  truly,  thoroughly  !  what 
enjoyment  and  reward ! 

''  Attempt,  in  the  midst  of  work,  to  be  indifferent 
to  complaints,  disturbing  noises,  etc. 

^^  One  should  strive  far  more  earnestly  to  gain  and 
secure  and  elevate  the  love  of  wife  and  children 
than  any  other  foreign  love  ;  for  nothing  can  con- 
tribute half  as  much  to  the  happiness  of  life. 

"  I  will  give  to  the  children  the  morning  pleasures 
of  morning  hours.     I  can  Inter  work  and  read. 

^'Children  need  love  more  than  instruction  ;  and 
use  and  example  alone  can  give  it  them.^ 

^'  As  Winkelman  set  apart  a  half  hour  daily,  to 
contemplate  his  Italian  joyousness,  a  man  should 
consecrate  a  half  hour,  daily  or  weekly,  to  reckon- 
ing up  and  considering  the  virtues  of  his  wife,  and 
ehildren,  and  nearest  friends ;  so  that  their  per- 
fections may  not  first,  at  their  death,  press  together 

'  See  Appendix. 


202  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

to  a  burning  focus.  Often  enough,  alas,  do  we 
need  this  pressing  together,  namely,  after  an  offence 
in  order  to  be  on\y  justly  angry,  and  reflect  all  his 
light  upon  the  offender. 

"  Place  in  imagination,  in  every  company  where 
you  speak  much,  an  enemy  before  you  ;  a  satirist 
among  the  enthusiastic  ;    a  spy,  among  lovers. 

"  Practise,  every  day,  an  acting  and  an  opposing 
power,  that  you  may  be  every  day  stronger  rather 
than  weaker.  Every  occasion  to  withstand  or  to 
sacrifice  will  be  dear  to  you,  without  which  you 
will  never  succeed.  But  you  need  only  to  make 
use  of  the  daily  —  go  not  out  of  your  way  to  seek 
sacrifices. 

'^  With  all  my  inclination  to  irony  upon  paper,  I 
have  never  in  actual  life,  neither  alone  nor  in  com- 
pany, made  a  man  ridiculous,  but  have  answered 
his  weakness  with  sympathizing  earnestness." 

In  the  same  book  Paul  says  :  "  Nothing  exhausts 
and  touches  me  as  phantasien,  on  the  piano.  I 
could  thus  kill  myself.  All  buried  feelings  and 
spirits  arise  again  !  My  hand  and  eye  and  heart 
know  no  limits !  At  last  I  close  with  an  eternally 
returning,  but  too  powerful  tone  !  One  can  be 
satisfied  with  hearing,  but  never  with  making  mu- 
sic ;  and  every  true  musician  could,  like  the  night- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  203 

ingales,  trill  himself  to  death.  When  I  have  phan- 
tasied  long,  I  break  out  into  violent  weeping,  with- 
out thinking  of  any  thing  decidedly  melancholy. 
The  tones  cut  deeper  and  clearer  into  ear  and 
heart.  Tears  are  my  strongest,  but  most  weaken- 
ing intoxication  ! 

''  No  author  can  foresee  the  i  fluence  his  works 
will  have  either  for  good,  or  for  evil,  for  they  ex- 
cite every  species  of  mind,  and  kindle  the  inflam- 
mable. 

"  I  could  become  a  great  author  with  Herder's 
powers  and  my  own  application  of  the  same." 


CHAPTER  V. 


RICHTER     IN     RELATION     WITH      THE      UNHAPPY.  

LETTERS.  MARIA    FORSTER. 

A.  D.  1814  ^^  come  now  to  a  trait  of  Richter's 
aged  51.  character  that  we  can  dwell  upon  with 
unmixed  satisfaction  —  his  relations  with  the  un- 
fortunate and  unhappy  who  sought  his  sympathy 
or  advice.  There  is  no  author  who  lives  so  en- 
tirely in  his  own  creations  as  Richter.  He  himself 
speaks  from  the  lips  of  his  characters,  and  gives 
his  readers  consolation  or  pity,  elevation  or  lofty 
trust.  He  steps  before  every  heart,  and  shows  it 
its  inmost  wishes  ;  he  lifts  the  veil  of  secrecy 
under  which  it  sighs,  and  shows  the  reader  that  he 
knows  and  pities  all  that  lies  struggling  or  per- 
plexed within  him.  He  had  experienced  deeply 
in  his  youth  that  feeling  of  heart-solitude,  that 
weighs  heavily  upon  minds  of  sensibility,  and  he 
offers  in  his  works  sympathy  and  aid  against  this 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  205 

fretting  sorrow.  He  had  felt  how  easy,  and  yet 
how  dangerous  it  is  to  take  the  first  wrong  step  in 
Hfe,  while  he  knew  how  to  draw  lessons  of  wisdom 
from  the  reaction  of  error  or  folly.  This  distin- 
guishing characteristic  of  Jean  Paul  made  him  the 
personal  friend  of  his  readers,  the  brother  and 
the  father  of  all  orphaned  and  widowed  hearts. 
By  his  expanding  and  never-wearied  sympathy  he 
responded  to  every  confidence  that  was  placed  in 
him,  and  shewed  the  beautiful  harmony  of  the 
author  with  the  man,  and  the  power  of  a  true 
christian  brother,  in  heahng  and  calming  the  soul. 
How  many  came  to  him  with  bowed  or  broken 
hearts  ;  how  many  in  the  midst  of  the  storm  of 
passion,  sought  his  counsel  and  his  help  !  He  was 
trusted  with  the  most  delicate  and  important 
secrets  by  women  of  all  ranks,  from  princesses  to 
domestic  drudges.  Men  and  youths  also  appealed 
to  him  to  decide  affairs  that  concerned  their  entire 
lives.  Repentant  sinners  sought  consolation  in  a 
confession  to  him ;  and  in  some  cases  he  was  em- 
ployed to  make  reparation,  where  a  breath  or  a 
whisper  would  have  tarnished  the  honor  of  the 
parties. 

He  answered  with  unwearied  patience  the  let- 
ters of  young  authors,  and  their  petitions  for  his 
judgment   upon    their   hterary   works.     He   read 


206  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

them  patiently,  criticised  delicately,  and  where  he 
could,  he  gave  encouragement.  His  sympathy 
and  help,  even  if  he  could  not  give  a  favorable 
judgment  of  the  work,  were  never  withheld  from 
the  author.  Thus,  while  he  dwelt  at  Meiningen 
he  obtained,  through  his  sole  exertions,  the  office 
of  cabinet  secretary  to  the  duke,  for  Earnest  Wag- 
ner. He  obtained  also  a  situation  for  Kanne,  the 
afterwards  well  known  enthusiastic  preacher,  whose 
supernaturalism  and  mysticism,  alas  I  brought 
Richter's  only  son  to  his  grave. 

We  have  only  room  for  a  few  of  the  answers 
Richter  sent  to  those  who  sought  his  advice  and 
sympathy.  The  first  is  in  answer  to  a  querulous 
letter  from  a  young  man,  who  writes  under  the 
name  of  Henrich,  and  which  is  filled  with  general 
complaints  at  his  unhappy  destiny. 

"  Dare  not  to  judge  from  one  year  of  unhappi- 
ness,  the  Eternal,  who  has  shewn  his  paternal 
care  of  mankind  for  six  thousand  years,  and  is  the 
same  great  Father  of  all.  He  who  has  supported, 
formed,  and  educated  the  human  race,  will  not 
desert  one,  even  the  least.  Of  the  smallest  ephem- 
era of  a  day  his  providence  has  protected  the  race 
from  Adam  to  us.  Let  your  heart  be  tender,  but 
your  breast  strong,  and  struggle  and  hope  at  th  ^ 
same  time." 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  207 

The  next  is  a  person  of  a  higher  order  of  mind, 
who  sent  him  several  letters,  and  at  last,  a  journal 
of  his  life.  As  the  letters  were  anonymous,  they 
were  thrown  into  the  general  receptacle  of  unan- 
swered letters.  At  last  another  despairing  letter 
was  sent,  that  hinted  at  suicide.  Richter  sought, 
and  soon  discovered  his  name,  and  wrote  to  him 
the  next  day. 

"  Wherefore  have  you  not  trusted  yourself  more 
generously  to  me  ?  My  silence  upon  your  letters, 
so  filled  with  mind  and  heart,  was  owing  princi- 
pally to  the  fact  that  such  letters  must  be  answered 
not  with  lines,  but  with  sheets ;  and  that  for  most 
of  the  letters  I  receive,  I  have  not  time  even  for 
lines.  The  letter  previous  to  your  journal,  covered 
my  horizon  with  a  thick  cloud,  through  the  suspi- 
cion of  a  misfortune  to  yourself ;  but  your  journal 
dispersed  the  cloud,  and  gave  me  again  the  sun. 
To  an  immediate  answer,  nothing  failed  me  but 
the  name,  which  I  hoped  to  find  in  the  first  letter 
—  but  behold  that  was  buried  in  the  great  letter 
vault,  where,  with  a  thousand  others,  it  awaited 
the  resurrection  —  that  is,  arrangement  and  order. 
But  the  first  grasp  in  the  coffer  drew  forth  your 
first  letter,  like  a  roll  of  destiny.  I  should  wish 
and  advise  you  more  action,  and  less  reflection : 
but,  if  we  cannot  discover  the  character  of  an 


208  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

author  from  many  books,  how  much  less  the  cha- 
racter of  a  letter-writer  from  a  few  pages  ;  and  how 
difficult  it  is  even  after  a  long  acquaintance,  to  give 
comprehensive  counsels,  that  shall  embrace  the 
v^hole  of  life.  Against  your  overvalue  of  myself  I 
have  nothing  to  say.  To  the  youth  it  is  always 
more  healthful  to  reverence  too  much  than  to 
despise  too  much.  You  have  a  pair  of  gods  too 
many,  but  a  divinity  too  little.  Trust  yourself,  or 
rather  the  unwersal  soul,  more.  There  will  fall  to 
you  yet  many  of  the  blossoms  of  youth.  Thrust  out 
the  invisible  fruit  buds  of  your  soul,  and  as  a  man 
you  will  profit  by  the  ripened  fruit.  Flee  only  the 
demon  of  ambition,  and  the  wild  ape  ^  of  vanity, 
and  you  will  be  reconciled  with  the  angel  of  the 
good  and  the  beautiful." 

Among  other  communications  to  him  was  the 
autobiography  of  a  man,  who  possessed  the  fixed 
idea,  that  his  thoughts,  by  the  medium  of  animal 
magnetism,  were  abstracted  from  his  mind,  and 
used  by  other  people.  At  the  same  time,  the 
same  person  desired  Richter  to  petition  the  em- 
peror Francis  for  a  present  of  not  less  than  twenty 
thousand  dollars  to  enable  him  to  enjoy  the  leisure  to 
write  an  epic  poem.     In  the  mean  time  he  prayed 

'   JFaldtervfel  is  also  the  name  of  a  butterfly. 


i 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  209 

Richter  to  advance  two  thousand  dollars,  that  he 
would  repay  when  he  received  the  twenty  thou- 
sand from  the  emperor. 

Another  letter  from  another  person,  demanded 
that  Paul  should  petition  the  allied  sovereigns  of 
Europe  to  free  Napoleon  from  his  imprisonment 
at  St.  Helena.  To  such  absurd  requests  he  gave 
of  course  no  answer. 

But  I  will  leave  these  common  instances,  to 
mention  only  one  other,  that  threw  a  cloud  over 
Richter's  life,  and  was  the  occasion  of  an  almost 
repentant  sorrow.  The  history  of  the  young  girl, 
who  knit  her  being  so  closely  to  his,  that  she  could 
not  live  without  him,  seems  to  us,  in  this  prosaic 
land  and  age,  so  like  a  fiction  of  romance,  as  to  be 
almost  incredible  in  its  sad  reality.  She  had 
known  him  only  through  his  books  ;  and  what  to 
others  is  but  an  abstraction,  became  to  her  the  life 
of  her  soul. 

This  has  been  mentioned,  as  a  parallel  case  to 
that  of  Bettine  Brentano,  whose  eccentric  letters 
and  journal  have  revealed  to  us  her  youthful  pas- 
sion for  Goethe.  But  the  cases  are  quite  dissimi- 
lar. Bettine  was  living  in  the  midst  of  the  refined 
society  where  Goethe  ruled,  and  her  glowing  im- 
agination converted  him  into  a  Divinity,  to  be  wor- 
shipped and  loved.     Bettine  had  more  imagination 

VOL.    II.  14 


210  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

than  sentiment  or  passion,  and  required  of  Goethe 
to  understand  and  appreciate  her  rare  intellect  as 
much  as  answer  to  her  heart.  Unfortunately, 
Goethe  was  afraid  of  the  ridicule  that  would  attend 
such  a  friendship,  and  wounded  her  vanity  as  well 
as  her  womanly  sensitiveness. 

Maria  Forster  was  living  in  solitude,  in  the  midst 
of  sublime  mountain  scenery.  She  had  no  one 
to  sympathize  with  her  passionate  nature.  She 
brooded  in  silence  over  her  communion  with  Jean 
Paul,  when  she  found  her  most  secret  thoughts,  and 
her  own  nature  revealed  to  her  in  his  books.  To 
passion  and  sentiment  was  united  a  sensitive  con- 
science and  feminine  delicacy,  and  we  cannot  read 
her  history  without  the  sorrowful  conviction,  that 
before  she  came  to  the  resolution  to  throw  herself 
into  the  Rhine,  the  contest  between  passion  and 
conscience  had  destroyed  the  healthful  action  of 
her  reason. 

IMaria  was  the  daughter  of  a  high-hearted  Ger- 
man, who  fell  under  the  axe  of  the  guillotine  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  terror  in  Paris.  The  heroic  death 
of  the  father,  who  despised  the  means  of  flight  that 
were  held  out  to  him  by  his  friends,  and  the  in- 
structions of  an  equally  high-minded  mother,  had 
increased  the  original  tendency  of  the  daughter's 
mind  to  enthusiasm,  and  given  her  an  inclination 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  211 

to  solitude,  where  she  Uved  in  an  ideal  world,  peo- 
pled only  with  heroes  of  the  ancient  world  and 
those  among  the  moderns  who  were  worthy  to  en- 
ter there.  Yet  she  devoted  herself  with  exact 
fidehty  to  all  filial  and  domestic  duties,  and  did 
not  avoid  the  society  about  her.  She  rejoiced 
with  the  gay  and  wept  with  the  sorrowful ;  but 
when  her  work  was  done,  when  the  cares  of  the 
day  were  over,  when  the  hours  of  darkness  gave 
the  choice  of  refreshment  through  sleep,  or  by 
communion  with  other  minds,  then  she  turned 
with  ecstasy  to  her  books,  and  drew  from  her  favor- 
ite authors  not  only  healthy  food,  but  the  intoxi- 
cation that,  in  her  solitude  and  with  her  peculiar 
temperament,  became  poison  to  her  mind. 

Already,  in  her  tenth  year,  she  became  acquaint- 
ed with  the  writings  of  Jean  Paul,  and  in  her  in- 
nocent, childish  enthusiasm,  wrote  him  a  letter. 
As  she  entered  womanhood,  he  became  the  ideal 
of  all  that  was  dreamed  or  imagined.  He  was  the 
only  living  mortal  that  was  admitted  into  her  ideal 
world  ;  the  purest  and  holiest  of  men,  a  saint,  "  a 
new  Christ  for  her/^  who  could  alone  bear  her 
over  the  waves  of  life,  that  threatened  right  and 
left  to  overwhelm  her.  To  be  near  him  in  some 
form,  or  in  some  relation,  was  the  only  contingency 
in  which  she  could  find  peace.     To  hold  some 


212  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

kind  of  communion  with  him  was  a  necessity  of 
her  nature.  She  must  speak  to  him,  or  she  must 
die. 

Accordingly,  in  her  thirteenth  year,  she  wrote 
to  him  thus  :  "  Is  it  not  too  bold  —  dare  I  write  to 
the  dearest  friend  of  man,  and  call  him  my  father  ? 
Ah,  I  shall  perhaps  never  see  him  whom  I  have  to 
thank  for  so  much,  for  the  dearest  benefits,  the 
most  elevated  truths,  all  the  good  that  excites  my 
imitation,  and  a  whole  eternity  that  has  opened 
before  my  soul.  When  I  think  of  your  infinite 
goodness,  I  burst  into  tears  and  my  heart  is  filled 
with  blessings  for  you.  This  firm  faith  in  you  is 
a  blessing  of  which  no  man  can  rob  me. 

"  You  will  ask,  perhaps,  who  it  is  that  speaks 
thus  boldly  to  you  ?  But  I  am  only  a  little  girl  — 
too  httle  that  I  need  to  mention  my  name.  Ah, 
where  I  grown,  as  I  shall  be,  no  land  and  no  sea 
should  prevent  me  from  once  in  my  life  seeing  him 
who  has  lor^  held  the  place  of  a  father  in  my 
heart.  But  my  own  faults  and  intervening  rela- 
tions hold  me  back  ;  and  I  would  not  trust  myself 
to  write  one  word  to  you  if  I  did  not  hope  to  de- 
serve your  indulgence  and  pardon  for  my  wishes. 

"  I  scarcely  have  a  wish  but  the  highest,  to  be 
so  good  as  to  deserve  your  esteem,  and  the  joy  of 
having  you  once  call  me  daughter.     My  whole  life 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  213 

is  only  a  striving  after  goodness  ;  and  yet,  oh ! 
father !  wherefore  does  it  go  so  slowly  forwards  ? 
It  is  grievous  that  for  me  it  is  only  goodness ;  that 
I  am  only  true  and  honest.^  But  I  will  not  bur- 
then you  with  my  faults." 

Maria  continued  to  write,  and  closed  every  let- 
ter with  her  ardent  wish  to  go  to  Richter.  The 
first  portion  of  her  correspondence  only  expressed 
a  wish  for  a  spiritual  union  with  Jean  Paul,  and  a 
meeting  in  that  future  world  for  which  he  had  pre- 
pared her  soul ;  but  at  length  her  letters  betrayed 
her  longing  to  be  near  him,  her  impatience  for  a 
more  intimate  union.  But  now  her  eyes  were 
opened,  and  it  was  as  if  she  had  touched  the  godhke 
with  sacrilegious  hands.  In  bitter  repentance  and 
tears  she  wrote  the  next  day  a  letter,  with  her 
name,  in  which  she  endeavored  to  soften  the  impa- 
tience of  the  first,  and  to  recall  the  contents  of  the 
postscript,  but  in  fact  repeating  them  both.  A  third 
and  fourth  letter  followed  in  quick  succession,  in 
which  she  strove  in  vain  to  conceal  the  conflict 
that  devoured  her  whole  moral  nature,  and  while 
she  prayed  him  to  forget  her,  she  still  held  fast  the 
hope  of  being  admitted  into  his  family. 

Now  she  waited  with  burning  impatience  for  an 

'  She  means  to  say,  that  she  has  no  talent. 


214  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

answer.  She  could  not  reckon  the  distance,  the 
interruption  of  the  post  by  the  warUke  condition 
of  the  country,  the  hterary  labors  of  her  friend,  or 
the  many  possibilities  that  lie  between  the  recep- 
tion and  the  answer  to  a  letter.  One  only  idea 
took  possession  of  her  mind  —  the  thought  of  be- 
ing despised  by  the  most  beloved  of  men  ;  and  to 
find  contempt  where  she  had  looked  for  heaUng 
and  sympathy,  was  too  intolerable  to  be  borne, 
and  this  infant,  as  she  was  in  years  and  experi- 
ence, could  find  no  peace  except  in  death. 

In  the  twilight  of  a  May  morning  she  sought 
the  river,  and  there,  to  make  her  resolution  doubly 
sure,  she  placed  a  knife  in  her  bosom.  She  look- 
ed round  on  the  home  where  her  mother  still  slept, 
which  the  first  rays  of  the  sun  was  just  touching 
with  splendor,  and  the  thought  of  the  inconsolable 
sorrow  of  her  widowed  mother  made  her  waver  in 
her  purpose,  and  her  sister,  who  had  been  a  wit- 
ness of  the  despairing  night  Maria  had  passed,  and 
had  followed  her  without  betraying  the  cause  of 
her  fearful  anticipations,  arrested  her,  and  saved 
her  from  her  despair.  They  walked  home  in  si- 
lence, and  Maria  resolved  that  while  her  mother 
lived  she  would  never  leave  her. 

But  at  last  the  expected  letter  arrived  from 
Richter,  and  here  it  is. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  215 

"  Your  four  letters  from  a  good  but  over-ex- 
cited heart  have  been  received.  I  guessed  the 
name,  and  so  did  a  friend  of  mine,  in  the  first 
hour.  Your  noble,  departed  father  is  worthy  of 
so  good  a  daughter.  But  as  the  earth  did  not 
reward  him,  may  he  now,  when  he  looks  down 
upon  his  daughter,  be  rewarded  by  seeing  her  full 
of  a  pure  ardor  for  goodness  and  virtue.  He 
would  speak  to  her  thus  —  ^  May  a  good  man  re- 
ceive my  dear  Maria  as  a  daughter,  and  be  to  her 
a  spiritual  father.  He  will  calm  her  excitement 
with  a  kindness  and  indulgence  that  cannot  be 
imagined ;  he  will  tell  her  that  in  actual  life, 
especially  in  marriage,  the  strength  of  passion  in 
women,  even  innocent  violence,  has  been  the  thorns 
and  daggers  upon  which  happiness  has  fallen, 
and  bled  ;  that  the  mightiest  and  holiest  of  men, 
even  Christ,  was  all  gentleness,  mildness,  and 
peace.  He  will  tell  her  she  may  soar  with  the 
wings  of  the  spirit,  but  with  the  outward  limbs 
must  she  only  walk.  She  may  kindle  a  holy  fire 
in  her  heart,  but  must  not  act  till  the  fire  has  be- 
come a  pure  light  to  guide  her.  I  also,  who 
speak  to  you  in  the  name  of  your  own  father,  de- 
sire such  for  my  dear  Maria,  and  will  be  that  father 
to  her. 

"  Your  dream  to  come  to  me,  you  have,  on 


216  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

awaking,  laid  aside.  Leave  your  mother  ?  Never ! 
I  shall  more  probably  go  to  you  than  you  come 
here.  I  and  my  v^^ife  both  love  you,  and  greet 
you  kindly.     Remain  alw^ays  good,  my  daughter. 

^'  R." 

Maria  received  the  handwriting  of  Richter  with 
floods  of  tears,  before  she  looked  within  the  letter 
for  consolation  and  hope.  She  answered  grate- 
fully, and  sent  him,  at  the  same  time,  the  letter  she 
had  written  the  night  before,  that  frightful  May 
morning,  when  she  had  entreated  him  to  look 
upon  her  as  one  departed,  who  could  not  endure 
to  live  under  the  thought  of  his  contempt. 

Richter  was  shocked  and  alarmed  at  the  reck- 
lessness, to  which  the  choice  between  life  and  death 
seemed  so  easy.  His  own  peace  was  endangered 
as  well  as  Maria's  happiness,  and  he  wrote  again 
with  true  paternal  earnestness. 

^'  Dear  Maria.  The  abundance  of  what  I  have 
to  say  to  you,  of  which  much  should  go  only  from 
the  lips  to  the  ear,  and  my  want  of  time,  have 
delayed  my  answers  to  your  last  letters.  The 
first  that  you  wrote  to  me  after  my  answer  has 
shaken  me  more  than  any  calamity  for  many 
years ;  for  had  it  not  been  for  an  apparent  acci- 
dent, you  would  have  thrown  a  frightful  death- 
shadow  over  the  whole  of  my  future  life.     You 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  217 

should  see  my  coffer  of  letters,  of  which  at  the 
best  1  have  not,  for  want  of  time,  answered  one- 
sixth  part,  and  between  me  and  my  best  friends 
there  is  often  a  delay  of  months.  Your  first  four 
letters  truly  animated  me.  I  saw  in  them  only  a 
rare  exalted  love,  and  a  glowing  soul,  but  not  a 
single  line  unworthy  of  you  or  of  me,  and  I  an- 
swered them  with  more  interest  and  joy  than  I 
usually  express.  You  demanded  the  answers  only 
too  hastily,  too  punctually.  Might  I  then  not 
have  journeyed,  or  been  sick,  or  dead,  or  absent, 
or  engaged  in  business  ?  The  fearful  step  that 
you  would  on  that  account  have  taken,  I  must, 
notwithstanding  the  greatness  of  mind  it  betrays, 
condemn  most  severely  !  —  but  never  let  there  be 
mention  of  it  between  us.  Besides,  I  wish  you  on 
your  own  account,  and  on  mine,  to  shew  my  two 
letters  to  your  good  mother,  whose  most  painful 
sorrows  I  well  know  how  to  imagine.  You  think 
much  too  well  of  me  as  a  man.  No  author  can 
be  as  moral  as  his  works,  as  no  preacher  is  as 
pious  as  his  sermons.  Write  to  me  in  future  very 
often  all  that  is  nearest  your  heart,  either  of  joy  or 
sorrow.  You  will  thus  relieve  your  mind  of  what 
rests  upon  it.  You  have  become,  by  a  peculiar 
bond,  more  knit  to  my  life  than  any  other  absent 
acquaintance :    only   draw   not  false   conclusions 


218  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

from  my  long  silence.  Very  delightful  to  me  will 
be  our  first  meeting.  May  you  be  happy,  my 
child ;  may  these  apparently  only  slightly  and 
calmly  written  words,  rejoice,  and  not  confuse  or 
wound  your  heart.     Your  father  r." 

After  the  reception  of  this  letter  peace  returned 
to  the  heart  of  Maria,  but  only  for  a  short  time ; 
the  arrow  had  entered  deeply,  and  the  wound 
would  not  heal.  In  the  fatal  hour  that  she  re- 
solved on  self-destruction  she  imagined  that  her 
inclination  was  more  than  a  childish  reverence, 
that  it  demanded  a  warmer  love  than  that  of  a 
father,  and  on  this  account  she  resolved  never  to 
see  Richter,  and  bound  herself  with  a  sacred  vow 
never  to  indulge  the  wish  of  meeting.  She  wrote 
to  him  : 

"  The  only  honorable  way  that  can  lead  me  to 
the  heart,  for  which  I  so  long,  is  the  grave.  You 
will  never  be  seen  by  me  on  this  earth,  for  I  love 
you  too  much ;  therefore,  write  to  me  something 
consoling ;  tell  the  poor  Maria,  that  you  will  love 
her  when  we  meet  beyond  this  world.  She  can 
think  of  no  joy  in  heaven,  if  there,  as  here,  she  is 
divided  from  the  only  soul  through  which  she 
lives. 

"  Never  again  write  me  a  letter  so  full  of  wisdom 
as  the  first,   but  rather   one    in  which  there   is 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  219 

nothing  but  a  lock  of  your  hair  ;  and  be  assured  I 
will  not  cease  to  write  till  you  tell  me  you  have 
sent  it,  willingly,  and  your  good  wife  also,  for  I 
deserve  it,  and  would  give  half  my  hopes  of  hap- 
piness for  it. 

"  I  have  no  greeting  for  you  from  my  mother, 
highly  as  she  esteems  Jean  Paul,  as  neither  she, 
nor  any  one  knows  to  whom  I  write,  nor  any 
thing  of  the  whole  history.  For,  as  she  asked  me 
at  that  time  ^  wherefore  I  would  tear  myself  from 
her,'  I  promised  her  never  to  leave  her,  if  she 
would  ask  me  no  questions.  She  cannot  know 
how  resolute  I  am,  nor  yet  again  how  unreserved, 
and  that  it  is  my  dearest  happiness  that  Jean  Paul 
has  taken  me  for  his  adopted  child.  Ah,  my 
father,  love  me  only  and  be  happy." 

Richter  sent  the  desired  lock  of  hair  and  wrote  : 
"  Dear  Maria :  The  lock,  that  my  wife  has  cut 
from  my  bald  pate,  is  the  best  answer  to  your  last 
letter.  Be  not  anxious,  I  pray  you,  that  I  shall 
let  your  letters,  written  as  they  will,  be  misunder- 
stood to  your  disadvantage.  I  understand  your 
warm,  idealizing  heart  and  its  great  power,  how 
then  shall  the  words  of  a  moment  make  me  err? 
What  I  complain  of  is,  that  the  sun-heat  of  your 
mind  ripens  too  soon,  or  rather  scorches  and  dries 
up  its  sweet  fruit.     Your  vow  never  to  see  me 


220  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

comes  to  nothing,  (now  comes  sermonizing,  which 
you  have  forbidden,)  for  in  the  first  place,  one 
cannot  vow  for  others  ;  and,  secondly,  we  vow 
only  to  do  what  is  good  and  leave  the  bad ;  and 
this  vow  we  bring  with  us  into  the  world  in  the 
form  of  conscience,  and  no  newer  oath  can  con- 
tradict it.  Another  thing ;  to  swear  to  avoid  a  cer- 
tain city,  or  a  certain  man,  without  reason,  is  to 
seek  to  control  Providence  ;  and,  finally,  your  vow 
does  not  extend  to  me,  and  I  shall  see  you  when- 
ever I  can.  No,  I  paint  to  myself  the  hour  when 
you  will  first  see  my  Caroline  and  my  children, 
and  then  me,  and  I  shall  also  see  all  your  friends. 

"  Dear  good  Maria,  you  are  the  only  invisible 
correspondent  to  whom  I  write  so  unreservedly, 
and  send  my  hair.  Could  I  do  it  if  I  had  not  so 
much  esteem  for  you,  and  so  much  confidence 
that  you  would  do  much  more  for  me  than  I  de- 
serve or  can  ever  repay.  Would  you  only  not  err 
when  from  business  or  necessity  I  am  silent  to 
your  letters.  Do  not  torment  yourself,  for  your 
pain  is  doubled  in  me.     Your  father,  r." 

^'  P.  S.  I  have  much  cause  to  wish  that  you 
should  tell  all  to  your  mother  and  sister,  and  find 
in  their  confidential  love  no  occasion  for  oppo- 
sition." 

The  result  of  this,  perhaps,  too  kind  and  tender 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  221 

letter  was  far  otherwise  than  Richter  expected. 
The  words  so  gently  admonitory  sank  hke  poison 
drops  into  Maria's  heart.  "  He  loves  me,"  she 
cried,  ''  he  will  seek  me  !  He  suffers  on  my  ac- 
count." Again  the  hope,  the  desire  to  see  him, 
grew  to  madness,  and  yet  the  veil  of  holy  inno- 
cence lay  upon  her,  and  the  fear  that  she  had 
passed  the  limits  of  womanly  delicacy  and  reserve 
distracted  her. 

Richter  observed,  with  deep  anxiety,  the  con- 
flicting tempest  in  her  soul  —  but  he  wrote  no 
more  I  Then  light  flashed  into  her  mind  ;  she  saw 
her  error,  and  with  heart-breaking  repentance  she 
wrote  to  him,  promising  to  be  again  only  a  child  — 
a  loving  child,  and  nothing  more.  Then  he  wrote 
to  her  thus :  "I  have  received  your  last  six  letters 
regularly,  but  not  always  actually  without  the  seals 
broken.'  .  .  .  Your  last  three  letters  were  wel- 
come to  me,  as  they  again  beautifully  spake  of  the 
only  possible  relation  that  can  exist  between  us, 
that  of  a  father  and  daughter.  A  relation  in  which 
your  first  letters  enchanted  me,  and  which  has 
hitherto  remained  unchanged  on  my  part.  In 
this  relation  alone  I  ventured  to  love  you  so  deeply, 
to  send  you  the  lock  of  my  hair,  to  give  you  my 

*  Richter  wished  her  to  understand  that  her  letters  were 
inspected  in  passing  through  the  post  office. 


222  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

confidence,  and  to  oppose  your  incomprehensible 
scruples  to  our  meeting.  The  word  father  is  for  a 
father,  no  less  than  the  word  daughter,  a  sacred 
and  holy  word.     Dearer  than  all  other  words ! 

"  Why  do  you  imagine  me  troubled  ?  I  am  happy 
with  my  children  and  my  Caroline,  and  as  truly 
beloved  by  them  as  they  are  by  me.  The  sciences 
are  my  heaven.  Why  then  should  I  be  unhappy, 
except  at  these  disastrous  times,  when  all  the  na- 
tions of  Europe  bleed  ? 

^'  Your  unreserve  gives  me  no  pain,  at  least,  un- 
less you  feel  it  yourself ;  on  the  contrary,  it  gives 
me  only  joy.  You  idolize  me  too  much  instead  of 
following  my  counsels.  I  shall,  therefore,  offer 
you  no  more  advice,  so  well  do  I  know  the  female 
heart,  especially  the  souls  of  fire  to  which  you  be- 
long. Send  me,  instead  of  letters  that  I  have  not 
time  to  answer,  rather  journals  of  your  life,  your 
family,  your  little  experiences. 

''  May  it  be  well  with  you,  dear  daughter,  and 
the  gentle  spirit  of  love,  without  that  of  fire,  fill 
your  breast.^  r." 

1  Richter,  in  this  advice,  showed  his  knowledge  of  the  hu- 
man heart,  especially  of  the  female  heart.  He  wished  to  en- 
gage her  to  expend  that  intensity  of  feeling  under  which  she 
was  suffering,  in  narrative,  perhaps  in  imaginary  scenes  and  sor- 
rows, that  are  often  in  female  authors  only  the  too  faithful 
transcript  of  real  feelings. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  223 

Maria's  self-tormenting  spirit  now  assumed  an- 
other form.  The  image  of  the  best  and  most  be- 
loved of  men,  as  it  dwelt  in  her  heart,  had  been 
profaned,  and  to  restore  herself  to  him  demanded 
an  expiation.  No  sacrifice  was  too  great,  and  she 
would  have  thrown  off  the  burthen  of  life  had  not 
her  promise  to  her  suffering  mother  restrained  her. 
But  the  mother  died,  and  Maria  was  free.  An- 
other care  restrained  her,  the  solitary  and  beloved 
orphan  sister.  But  at  this  time  an  old  friend  of 
the  family  returned,  unexpectedly,  after  a  long 
absence,  and  took  the  orphan  sister  under  his 
protection.  He  was  an  honest,  firm,  and  benevo- 
lent man,  and  Maria  could  safely  trust  her  sister's 
happiness  to  his  keeping. 

Now  she  could  go  to  the  beloved,  and  fall  at  his 
feet,  and  ask  again  to  be  his  daughter.  No !  the 
meeting  she  desires  must  be  for  another  world, 
where  there  can  exist  none  but  spiritual  re- 
lations. 

The  domestic  affairs  of  her  friend  and  sister 
were  all  arranged  ;  every  minute  care  taken  for 
their  comfort ;  all  her  duties  scrupulously  per- 
formed, and  now  that  the  aim  of  her  wishes  was 
reached,  she  wrote  to  Richter. 

"  Do  not  be  angry,  dearest  father,  at  receiving 
these   lines   from   your   unfortunate   Maria.     My 


224  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

mother  has  been  two  months  dead,  and  she  will 
consent  that  I  shall  now  follow  her.  She  wished 
me  to  take  care  of  my  sister  —  that  is  done.  Her 
happiness  is  secure,  and  I  can  no  longer  endure  to 
live,  where  mine  has  so  incomprehensibly  failed. 
Ah  !  in  the  great  universe  of  God  there  will  yet  be 
a  place  where  I  can  recover  my  peace,  and  be  as  I 
wish.  I  have  suffered  so  much  !  I  dare  to  die  1 
Ah,  you  will  despise  me  as  long  as  I  live,  for  you 
will  never  understand  how  I  have  languished  to 
do  something  for  you,  or  for  those  dear  to  you,  and 
how  much  the  thought  has  killed  me,  when  I  learnt 
that  I  could  not  make  you  happy.  But  despise 
me  not  so  much,  as  not  to  let  your  children,  of 
whom  I  cannot  think  without  tears,  accept  a  httle 
present  from  me.  Let  them  not  know  from  whom 
it  came.  I  would  willingly  be  wholly  forgotten, 
and  unmarked,  vanish  away.  No  one  can  learn 
my  history  from  myself.  I  have  burnt  all  books 
and  journals.  Your  hair  only  remains  on  my 
neck,  and  I  take  it  with  me.  Farewell,  beloved 
father !  Ah,  that  it  must  be  so  with  me  ?  Oh 
that  it  were  all  a  dreamy  and  I  had  never  written  to 
you  !  My  unfortunate  spirit  will  hover  about  you. 
Perhaps  I  shall  be  permitted  to  give  you  a  sign,  or 
to  bring  you  some  higher  knowledge." 

Together  with  Maria's  letter,  Richter  received 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  225 

one  from  the  friend  already  mentioned,  giving  an 
account  of  her  death. 

"  The  letter  of  Maria,  which  you  will  receive 
with  this,  will  leave  no  doubt  of  her  sad  fate. 
What  to  us  is  a  dark  riddle,  will  find  perhaps 
with  you,  who  knew  the  unfortunate  better  than 
we  did,  a  clear  solution.  She  had  long  desired 
that  death  should  come  to  her  accidentally.  But 
in  vain.  How  often  she  inhaled,  but  without 
effect,  the  poisonous  breath  of  pestilence.  A  thou- 
sand times  she  stretched  herself  upon  the  sick 
couch  of  the  dying,  and  pressed  her  cheek  upon 
that  of  death ;  but  the  poisoned  arrow  touched 
her  not,  and  no  bloom  faded  from  her  youthful 
cheek.  Then  came  May  again,  with  its  dark 
recollections  from  the  past  year  ;  but  Maria  was 
apparently  happy,  with  a  festive  and  wild  gaiety 
alternating  with  earnest  and  cheerful  calmness. 
On  the  fatal  day  she  read  and  wrote,  and  prepared 
the  evening  meal  for  the  friend  and  her  sister. 
She  covered  the  table,  and  fulfilled  with  graceful 
attention,  the  duties  of  a  kind  hostess.  She  rose 
from  table  to  write  a  letter,  and  at  about  eight 
o'clock  asked  her  sister  to  sit  down  with  their 
friend  at  the  piano,  and  embraced  her  at  the  same 
moment,  with  warmth  and  agitation.  She  threw 
herself  on  the  breast  of  the  friend,  and  said,  while 

VOL.   II.  15 


226  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

her  voice  was  choked  with  tears,  '  Take  care  oj 
my  sister.^  Scarcely  had  she  gone,  when  an  in- 
expressible anxiety  was  felt  by  both.  They  looked 
around,  and  saw  the  letters  Maria  had  left,  and 
hastened  to  seek  the  unfortunate  ! 

''  They  met  a  multitude  of  people  bringing  the 
body  of  a  young  girl,  that  a  fisherman  had  drawn 
from  the  stream.  It  was  Maria !  They  bore 
the  body  into  the  nearest  house,  and  means  of 
resuscitation  were  used,  till  at  length  she  opened 
her  eyes." 

But  Maria's  purpose  to  die  was  too  strong ;  she 
resisted  all  the  means  of  recovery,  and  although 
perfectly  conscious,  and  calm,  and  self-possessed, 
before  morning  she  had  ceased  to  breathe. 

Her  death  drew  a  dark  cloud  over  Jean  Paul ; 
but  he  rejoiced  that  he  had  not  followed  the  coun- 
sels of  those  who  had  advised  him  to  treat  her 
with  severity  or  ridicule. 

I  do  not  envy  the  mind  that  can  find  anything 
to  ridicule  in  the  melancholy  history  of  this  poor 
victim  of  the  imagination,  or  in  the  far  less  tragi- 
cal result  of  Bettine's  enthusiastic  admiration  of 
Goethe.  Bettine  lived  in  the  same  society  with 
Goethe,  and  was  happy  in  all  the  actual  relations 
of  life.  Maria,  on  the  contrary,  brooded  in  soli- 
tude over  an  ideal  image  of  the  poet ;    or  rather 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  227 

she  found  her  own  nature  reflected  in  his  pages, 
and,  hke  Narcissus  of  old,  she  fell  in  love  with 
her  own  ideal. 

With  all  his  boasted  knowledge  of  the  female 
heart,  we  must  still  think  that  Jean  Paul  erred  in 
his  treatment  of  Maria.  At  this  time  she  was 
seventeen,  and  he  was  fifty  years  old ;  and,  as  his 
biographers  assert,  he  had  lost  the  traces  of  the 
poet,  at  least  in  his  exterior  appearance.  Had  he 
permitted  Maria  to  go  to  him,  no  doubt  her  pas- 
sion would  have  been  cured.  She  would  have 
found  him  fulfilling  all  the  duties  of  a  good  citi- 
zen, a  kind  father,  a  faithful  husband  ;  living  a 
prosaic  life,  with  his  squirrels  and  birds ;  her 
imagination,  heated  by  solitude,  and  an  intense 
spiritual  egotism,  would  have  fallen  naturally  into 
the  calmness  of  the  every-day  domestic  duties,  in 
which  woman's  destiny  is  cast. 


CHAPTER  VL 


RICHTER  S    LOVE  OF  TRAVELLING. VISITS    PRINCE 

DALBERG.  VISITS      HEIDELBERG.  RECEIVES 

HIS    doctor's    diploma.  —  henry     VOSS. ANI- 
MAL   MAGNETISM. 

A.  D.  1816  ^^^  ^"^^  ^^^  ^^  more  cheerful  incidents. 
aged  53.  -^^  j.^^^^  already  learnt  from  Richter's 
youthful  history  how  much  value  he  attached  to 
the  pleasures  and  advantages  of  journeying.  Dur- 
ing the  war,  and  while  his  pension  was  withheld, 
the  old  desire  slumbered,  or  was  only  indulged  in 
short  excursions  to  Erlangen  and  Nurnberg.  But 
now  he  was  again  easy  in  his  pecuniary  relations, 
and  his  history  will  be  best  learnt  from  his  letters 
to  Caroline,  on  his  various  journeys,  from  1816  to 
1821.  We  cannot  but  wonder  that  the  beloved 
wife  was  never  his  companion  upon  these  excur- 
sions ;  but  then  he  would  not  have  enjoyed  what 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  229 

he  called  the  chief  pleasure  of  travelling,  the  de- 
light of  returning  to  her. 

Caroline  was  a  true  woman,  and  a  true  wife : 
one  of  those  self-sacrificing,  devoted  beings,  who, 
regardless  of  her  own  pleasures,  was  careful  for 
the  comfort  of  others.  Every  thing  was  prepared 
by  her  for  Richter's  convenience  on  these  occa- 
sions, even  to  the  packing  of  the  carriage,  where 
he  continued  his  literary  works  on  the  road,  read- 
ing and  writing,  as  if  he  were  in  his  own  study. 

Paul  left  exact  directions  for  his  family  in  his 
absence  :  a  sort  of  testament  for  each.  To  the 
youngest  daughter  was  committed  the  care  of  the 
weather-frog ;  to  her  sister  the  Canary  birds,  and 
the  spiders  ;  and  for  his  wife  such  written  direc- 
tions as  the  following : 

"In  case  of  fire,  the  dark  bound  manuscripts 
must  be^r5^  saved.  Second.  The  money  ;  and  pa- 
per coffer  afterwards.  Third.  Record  every  dollar 
that  you  take  out,  and  the  date,  hut  further  of  the 
spending,  not.  Fourth.  Let  both  the  doors  of  my 
study  be  shut,  and  do  not  let  the  squirrel  go  in. 
Let  all  the  windows  be  closed  also,  on  account  of 
the  flies,  and  open  them  only  on  the  day  of  my 
arrival.  Fifth.  Lend  no  book  without  recording 
it.  I  pray  thee  heartily,  to  eat  regularly,  and  to 
drink  a  little  beer,  that  you  may  be  blooming.     Do 


:230  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

not  be  anxious  about  me.  Do  not  remain  always 
in  the  house,  and  take  Spitz  with  you  when  you 
go  out." 

He  rewarded  Carohne's  minute  cares  by  long 
and  constant  letters.  He  appears  in  all  his  jour- 
neys to  have  written  to  her  every  other  day.  We 
regret  that  her  letters  are  not  also  given  to  us  ;  but 
from  the  few  we  have,  modest  and  beautiful  as 
they  are,  we  see  his  genius  reflected  in  her's  as 
the  light  of  a  distant  star  is  reflected  in  the  dew  of 
the  violet. 

Richter's  first  journey  is  to  visit  the  prince  pri- 
mate Dalberg,  to  whom  he  had  been  indebted  for 
the  first  tw^o  years  of  his  pension.  The  grateful 
disposition  of  the  poet  is  evinced  in  this,  that 
instead  of  visiting  the  enchanting  scenes  upon  the 
Rhine  he  had  so  longed  for,  he  should  first  go  to 
the  solitary  Regensburg,  before  all  things,  to  fulfil 
a  duty  of  remembrance  to  the  deserted  and  for- 
gotten Dalberg. 

"  Regensburg,  August,  1816. 

^'  The  prince  is  a  tall,  old  man,  somewhat  bent, 
with  a  strongly  marked  profile,  especially  the  nose  ; 
the  left  eye  is  always,  through  weakness,  closed. 
In  conversation,  as  in  everything  else,  he  is  more 
of  a  learned  man  than  of  a  prince.  .  .  .  The  first 
day,  from  eleven  to  twelve,  he  asked  only  about 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  231 

my  wife,  and  at  dinner  also,  when  he  drank  her 
health.  By  evening  our  acquaintance  was  more 
perfect,  than,  since  Herder's  death,  I  have  enjoyed 
with  any  one.  Never  in  so  short  a  time  has  a 
prince  won  my  love.  Since  then,  I  have  been 
with  him  every  day  from  six  o'clock  until  half  past 
seven.  We  sit  in  the  twilight  with  a  half-emptied 
flask  between  us,  and  talk  about  religion,  philoso- 
phy, and  all  the  sciences.  In  faith  and  works  he 
is  a  spiritualist,  in  the  best  sense  of  the  word. 
He  told  me,  unreservedly,  of  the  mistakes  of  his 
youth,  in  short,  of  a  hundred  things,  that  can 
only  be  repeated  verbally.  His  working  day  con- 
sists of  ten  hours  ;  two  hours  he  gives  to  public 
transactions  ;  two  he  labors  upon  his  work  upon 
Christianity.  After  intellectual  exertion,  prayer, 
he  said,  strengthened  and  refreshed  his  mind  more 
than  anything  beside.  His  religious  axioms  are, 
the  highest  veneration  for  God,  and  the  deepest 
self-humiliation.  Against  my  placing  Christ  be- 
neath God,  he  said,  in  a  gentle  tone,  merely  no ! 
He  desired  my  judgment  of  the  great  question  of 
Pilate.  It  is  not  easily  answered,  but  mine  satis- 
fied him.  I  spare  the  good  old  man  of  seventy- 
four  all  disputations. 

He  told  me,  if  he  ever  received  the  twenty  thou- 
sand florins,  that  without  solicitation  the  Congress  of 


232  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Vienna  had  agreed  to  pay  him,  he  should  do  some- 
thing for  my  wife,  after  my  course  was  finished.* 

About  eight  o'clock  last  evening  the  prince  took 
me  to  visit  the  Count  Westerhold,  a  friend  of  La- 
vater's,  who,  on  account  of  his  ten  years  of  gout, 
admits  no  one  earlier.  Enter  his  apartment,  you 
have  been  there  for  years !  Think  of  a  table 
with  a  curious  lamp,  that  I  know  not  how  to  name, 
suspended  above  it.  On  the  sofa  his  mild  and 
sweet  wife  ;  the  prince  near  her,  and  opposite,  the 
eldest  daughter,  who  is  mending  pens  for  her  two 
little  sisters,  who,  at  a  distant  table,  are  preparing 
their  lessons  for  their  teacher ;  the  count,  also, 
was  writing  at  the  great  work-table.  I  have  never 
seen  such  home-like  simplicity  in  the  apartment 
of  a  noble.  We  were  all  happy,  especially  the 
prince,  and  I  was  like  an  old  outserviced  poodle, 
that  had  got  comfortably  upon  his  stool.  There 
was  tea,  with  rack,  and  afterwards  archbishop.^ 

"  Evening  suppers  and  tea,  as  with  us,  are  usual 
here.  Except  the  first  time,  I  have  been  always 
in  boots.  You  see  to  what  boldness  a  quiet,  self- 
formed  man  may  come.  I  would  the  situation  of 
the  learned  were  more  respectable  here.     I  was 

'  The  prince  died  suddenly,  without  a  will,  and  Caroline  re- 
ceived nothing. 

*  Mulled  wine,  with  roasted  oranges  in  it. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  233 

never  so  moderate  in  conversation ;  and  in  drink- 
ing, I  am  completely  to  be  wondered  at. 

"  Yesterday,  as  I  came  from  the  heavenly  gar- 
den at  Pruflingen,  I  received  your  precious  letter. 
It  brought  me  a  more  beautiful  Eden  than  the  one 
I  had  just  left.  From  strong  emotion  I  vi^as  silent. 
Ah,  could  I  have,  instead  of  the  pale  image  in  my 
thoughts,  your  warm,  living  eyes  before  me !  I 
shall  leave  here  Friday  the  sixth,  and  get  home 
about  seven  on  Saturday.  The  children  can  go 
half  an  hour  before  to  see  if  I  have  come,  so 
that  I  may  have  you  alone  at  first. 

^'  Wherefore,  good  soul,  do  you  excuse  your 
necessary  expenses  ?  I  fear  only  that  you  spare 
the  money  too  much.  I  shall  employ  the  two  days 
of  my  journey  back  in  moral  observations,  for 
which  I  have  written  a  special  book  (that  I  studied 
also  at  Bayreuth,  little  as  you  observed  me)  to 
strengthen  my  mind  against  the  perversity,  which 
I  inherit  from  my  father,  of  making  everywhere 
false  lights  and  shades.  My  Primas  alone  has  a 
heart  full  of  pure  love,  and  free  from  all  selfish- 
ness. You  would  fall  weeping  upon  his  breast. 
Farewell,  my  beloved  !  Act  freely,  and  do  not 
trouble  thvself,  nor  thine.  r." 

The  following  year,  1817,  Richter  visited  Hei- 
delberg, and  saw,  for  the  first  time,  the  enchant- 
ing shores  of  the  Rhine.     His  account  of  his  re- 


234  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ception,  of  his  Doctor's  diploma,  and  of  a  fete  that 
was  made  for  him  upon  the  Necker,  are  so  naive 
and  betray  so  innocent  a  vanity,  that  they  should 
not  be  withheld  from  the  reader. 

"  Heidelberg,  July,  1817. 

"  On  the  very  day,  my  beloved  dear  heart,  that  I 
have  become  Doctor  of  philosophy^  will  I  write  to 
you.  How  shall  I  paint  to  you  the  love  and 
esteem,  even  to  excess,  with  which  I  am  here  re- 
ceived. The  dog  even,  could  he  speak,  would 
tell  you  he  had  never  been  so  well  fed,  and  from 
such  beautiful  hands.  I  have  lived  hours  such  as 
I  never  passed  before,  especially  on  the  water  ex- 
cursions ;  listening  to  the  vivats  of  the  students, 
and  the  singing  of  old  Italian  music.  But  I  thank 
the  All  Good  as  much  as  I  can  thank  him,  by  mild- 
ness, quietness,  modesty,  love  and  justice  to  every 
one.  I  am  most  intimate  with  Paulus,  and  his 
wife,  who  is  not  after  the  Jena  report,  a  pretend- 
ing, hterary  coquette,  but  an  enlightened,  accom- 
plished hausfrau,  and  their  beautiful  daughter,  So- 
phia, who  reads  indeed,  nothing  but  me  and  the 
Bible,  and  understands  the  most  difficult  parts, 
or  suffers  herself  to  be  enlightened. 

»  Paul's  naive  delight  at  receiving  his  Doctor's  diploma  was 
expressed  with  the  most  childlike  simplicity.  He  tells  Caroline 
that  Max  must  translate  it,  so  that  she  could  show  it  to  the 
friends  and  neiirhbors. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  235 

"  On  Sunday  there  was  a  water  party  on  the 
Necker.  It  seemed  to  me  like  Hfe  in  my  romances, 
as  the  long  vessel  with  an  awning,  ornamented 
with  oak  branches  and  ribbon  streamers,  and  fol- 
lowed by  a  boat  filled  with  musicians,  parted  for 
the  mountains  of  Bergen.  The  greater  part  of 
the  ladies  and  men  sat  at  the  long  table  in  the 
centre  of  the  vessel.  Students,  professors,  beauti- 
ful girls,  women,  the  crown  prince  of  Sweden, 
and  a  splendid  Englishman,  a  young  prince  von 
Waldeck,  all  united  in  the  most  innocent  enjoy- 
ment. My  cap,  and  the  hat  of  the  prince  were 
demanded  from  the  other  end  of  the  table  by 
two  beautiful  girls,  and  returned  wreathed  with 
oak  leaves,  and  we  must  both  wear  them  thus.  .  .  . 

"  One  cloud  after  another  withdrew  from  the 
sky.  Upon  the  old  castle  rocks  waved  flags  and 
handkerchiefs,  and  the  young  people  shouted  vivats. 
In  our  vessel  there  was  much  singing,  and  boat 
after  boat  followed  us  with  music.  In  the  even- 
ing a  youth  with  a  guitar  sang  my  favorite  song, 
'  Name  not  the  name.'  I  was  so  powerfully 
affected,  that  I  was  obliged  to  think  of  foolish  and 
stupid  things  to  restrain  the  excess  of  my  emotion  ; 
and  thus  in  a  beautiful  evening,  the  whole  little 
world  of  joy  returned  without  the  smallest  interrup- 
tion, accident  or  misunderstanding,  to  their  homes. 

"  Thus  blessed,  and  indeed  encroaching  on  the 


236  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

gifts  of  the  Infinite,  I  stood  in  the  darkness  of  the 
night  in  a  circle  of  students,  singing  vivais,  and 
gave  my  hand  to  be  seized  by  a  hundred  hands, 
while  I  looked  gratefully  to  heaven. 

"  August. 

"  Dearest !  I  w^rite  again  upon  my  holy  moun- 
tain !  How  shall  I  paint  to  you  the  open  heaven 
into  which  I  looked  as  the  Upper  Rhine  opened 
before  me.  It  flows  eternally  before  me.  I  have 
passed  from  admiration  to  admiration.  I  was 
received  in  all  the  cities  in  the  same  manner.  In 
Manheim  they  gave,  on  my  account,  the  opera  of 
the  Vestal,  by  Spantini,  which  usually  melts  and 
weakens,  by  its  exquisite  beauty.  I  would,  hear- 
ing these  tones,  depart  from  life.  What  lovely 
female  forms  came  before  me.  I  have  not  seen 
for  ten  years  so  many,  and  so  youthful,  and  been 
kissed  with  such  emotion ;  but  I  felt,  thereby,  the 
holiness,  and  elevation  and  deep-rooted  nature  of 
married  love,  and  that  this,  in  comparison,  is  only 
a  rootless  and  scentless  flower.  The  love  of  mar- 
ried life,  in  comparison  with  this,  is  like  embrac- 
ing one's  own  children  rather  than  those  of  a 
stranger.  1  know  decidedly,  that  my  domestic 
heaven  can  and  will  be  only  the  repetition  of  what 
it  has  been  ;  and  that  it  shall  exceed  the  past  for 
thy  happiness,  thou  true  and  good  ! 

*'  Max  must  study  at  Heidelberg.     Pure,  pro- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  237 

tecting  spirits,  in  the  form  of  my  friends,  will  sur- 
round him.  You  will  always,  dear  Max,  be  to 
your  mother  as  you  were  the  day  after  your  com- 
munion, and  not  afar  off  trouble  me.  I  so  gladly 
think  of  you  thus ;  and  it  would  be  hard  if,  on  my 
return,  I  could  not  embrace  you  with  the  same 
affection  as  the  others.  I  think  often  of  you,  dear- 
est Caroline,  often  with  painful  longing;  I  will 
never  repeat  so  long  a  journey  without  you.  You 
would  be  so  loved  here,  by  Swartz,  Hegel,  and 
Paulus ! 

..."  Ah  !  well,  dearest !  I  have  here  much, 
too  much  to  do,  although  I  steal  time  to  work 
from  the  fairest  hours.  When  I  return  I  will  ac- 
complish more,  go  out  less,  live  abstemiously,  and 
say  often  to  the  body  '  thou  must ! '  It  is  incom- 
prehensible the  true  oversight  that  one  takes  of 
himself,  and  the  faults  that  one  discovers  in  him- 
self, when  he  arrives  in  a  new  place,  under  new 
relations.  It  is  so  with  me,  and  I  shall  return  to 
thee  a  new  and  improved  edition  of  myself.  Fare- 
well, beloved  !  Greet  my  Emanuel,  and  his  Eman- 
uelle,  and  Otto,  and  the  good  Kinderlein  ;  they 
will  soon  again  be  crowding  on  my  sofa." 

In  this  Heidelberg  journey,  Richter  formed  the 
most  intimate  friendship  with  Henry  Voss,  a  man 


238  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

much  younger  than  himself,  indeed  young  enough 
to  have  been  the  friend  of  his  son.  He  wrote 
with  great  dehght  to  his  wife,  "  that  in  the  true 
German  Voss,  he  had,  in  his  old  age,  found  a  new 
/AoM."  ^  Richter  was  now  fifty-four  years  old,  and 
Voss  "  stood  beside  him  like  his  youth."  It  is  a 
rare  blessing  to  the  old  to  go  back,  and  as  it  were 
live  over  again  their  youthful  years  in  another  and 
younger  mind.  It  is  hke  a  new  blossoming  of  hfe, 
after  the  fruit  has  been  gathered. 

In  this  journey  Richter  also  made  the  discovery 
of  his  power  of  imparting  animal  magnetism,  and 
he  afterwards  made  use  of  it  to  alleviate  pain  in 
his  suffering  friends.  While  he  was  at  Heidelberg, 
a  lady  brought  her  daughter,  suffering  from  severe 
tooth-ache,  to  him,  after  he  had  retired  for  the 
night.  He  rose  instantly,  and  came  into  the  hall 
with  bare  feet,  and  with  the  utmost  patience  and 
tenderness  exerted  the  magnetic  power,  and  sent 
the  young  lady  home  in  a  deep  and  quiet  sleep. 
But  while,  on  one  side,  the  discovery  of  this  power 
was  a  rich  source  of  humorous  excitement,  and  an 
occasion  of  benevolent  exertion  for  others,  the 
practical  use  of  it  at  so  late  a  period  of  life,  sud- 

*  The  reader  will  recollect  tliou  is  only  used  in  the  familiar 
intercourse  of  intimate  friendship. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  239 

denly  impaired  his  vigor,  and  helped,  with  other 
evils,  to  bring  on  an  early  and  premature  old  age. 

The  following  year,  1818,  Jean  Paul  left  home 
again,  to  visit  Frankfort  and  renew  his  pleasure  by 
again  seeing  Heidelberg  and  the  Rhine  ;  but  he 
seems  to  begin  to  feel  the  weariness  of  travelling 
alone.     He  wrote  to  Caroline  : 

"  The  fairest  prospect  to  me  this  afternoon  was 
your  apartment,  surrounded  by  our  children.  In 
the  morning  will  your  eyes  and  heart  hover  about 
me,  and  remind  me  of  a  day'  that  has  now  become 
holier  and  dearer  than  in  its  first  birth.  Be 
only  joyful  and  hoping,  as  I  am,  and  we  shall  need 
nothing  more.  Children  !  would  you  create  a  joy 
for  your  father,  while  he  is  away,  make  your  mo- 
ther happy  by  your  goodness  and  love,  and  you 
will  be  truly  dear  to  your  father." 

The  next  day  :  —  "  Perhaps  I  have  consecrated 
our  yesterday's  festival  by  a  health-giving  action. 
I  passed  through  Wurzburg,  on  account  of  the 
misdirection  of  my  pension  by  the  finance  director. 
But  I  said  not  a  word  of  the  mistake,  for  he  had  a 
consumptive  daughter  of  sixteen  years,  that  the 
family  physician  had  given  over.     I  proposed  to 

^  Twenty-seventh  of  May,  their  wedding-day. 


240  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

this  man  (as  he  had  no  faith  in  it,)  magnetism, 
merely  as  a  last  possible  saving  means.  With  his 
consent  I  magnetised  the  daughter  in  bed,  and 
put  her  into  a  profound  and  gentle  sleep.  Another 
physician,  an  excellent  young  man,  who  has  learnt 
in  Berlin,  will  continue  the  magnetism.  I  have,  at 
least,  saved  the  good  mother  from  premature  tears, 
for  without  magnetism  the  daughter  must  certainly 
die.  Her  face  is  already  like  white  marble  sculp- 
tured on  a  monument.  It  was  my  only  consola- 
tion yesterday,  when  I  had  nothing  to  press  to  my 
heart  but  my  own  empty  arms,  that  you  would 
make  for  yourself  a  real  joy,  in  thinking  of  this 
day,  of  our  short  separation  and  eternal  reunion. 
Farewell,  most  beloved,  my  heart  kisses  the  child- 
ren !  Had  I,  of  the  six  or  eight  eyes,  one  only 
here  ! " 

"  Frankfort,  May  30. 

"  To  Caroline.  Yesterday,  in  the  midst  of  the 
coldest  weather,  1  reached  this  great,  splendid 
city.  On  the  way  I  have  gained  on  the  right  ear 
a  wholly  gray  lock,  and  on  the  left,  one  nearly  so. 
I  must  thank  either  the  cold  or  the  cap  for  this 
natural  powder.  ...  I  am  in  the  house  of  the 
rich  bookseller,  Wenner.  Paying  is  not  to  be 
thought  of.  I  could  not,  without  great  trouble, 
insist  upon  paying  for  wine  and  beer.     His  some- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  241 

what  sickly,  but  noble  and  diffident  (childless) 
wife,  a  singer  and  sketcher,  and  my  warmest 
reader,  has  provided  for  the  most  minute  con- 
veniences. I  have  three  splendid  chambers  and 
a  private  staircase.  Near  the  writing-table  a  bell 
for  the  servants,  wax  lights  and  silver  candlesticks, 
and,  if  I  desire  it,  the  most  complete  solitude. 
The  lady  wept  for  joy  when  I  came  here.  Wenner 
has  much  goodness  in  his  countenance,  in  which 
there  is  a  strong  resemblance  to  Goethe,  and  he 
always  acts  without  many  words. 

"  There  are  as  many  ugly  female  faces  here,  as 
there  were  beautiful  in  Mainze  —  truly,  broadly, 
ugly.  Till  now  I  have  only  met  and  spoken  with 
matrons,  except  two  single  ladies,  which  the  hu- 
morist, Goethe's  early  passion,  invited  me  to  meet 
this  evening  at  Brentano's.  I  can  scarcely  enjoy 
this  heavenly  weather,  because  there  is  no  garden 
out  of  the  city,  where  I  can  go. 

.  .  .  ''  How  often  I  thought  yesterday,  on  the 
water,  under  the  splendid  canopy  of  night,  of  you, 
and  said,  '^  Ah,  could  my  Caroline  enjoy  her  birth- 
day festival  with  me  ;  and  this  morning  I  awoke 
melancholy  at  the  thought  that  you  are  always 
alone,  or  only  with  the  children,  on  your  birth- 
day. But  I  need  no  festival  of  life  to  remind  me 
of  your  love.     The  careful  preparation  and  pack- 

VOL.    II.  16 


242  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ing  of  every  article,  the  new  wristbands  on  the 
shirts,  every  morning  remind  me  of  the  pious 
hand  that  so  lovingly  orders  everything  for  my 
comfort." 

The  Frankfort  enthusiasm  for  Richter  was  a 
repetition  of  the  Heidelberg.  They  also  gave  him 
a  night  festival,  in  boats  on  the  Maine,  which  was 
nearly  a  repetition  of  that  on  the  Necker,  except 
that  the  boats  were  illuminated  with  colored  lamps, 
and  the  shore  with  torches. 

He  extended  his  journey  to  Heidelberg,  and 
seems,  almost  for  the  first  time  in  his  hfe,  to  have 
made  the  melancholy  discovery,  that  the  same 
joys,  although  the  elements  are  the  same,  are 
never  felt  a  second  time  with  the  same  intensity. 

He  wrote  to  Caroline  :  "I  depart  from  Heidel- 
berg in  a  wholly  different  disposition  from  the  last 
time,  although  there  was  nothing  then  that  ought 
to  have  been  unpleasant  or  painful  to  you.  In- 
deed, I  look  with  too  prosaic  eyes  upon  every- 
thing. The  poetic  flower  of  love  of  the  last  year, 
is  (alas,  for  it  was  so  innocent)  entirely  faded,  as 
in  its  nature  it  could  know  neither  continuance 
nor  resuscitation.  What  I  truly  dream  of,  is  our 
evenings  together.  How  long  shall  they  last? 
First  Max  withdraws,  then  the  little  girls,  and  we 
sit  alone  together ;  at  last  you  are  wholly  alone. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  S43 

Ah !  let  us  love  as  long  as  there  is  yet  time  to 
love  !     Eternally  your  own  r." 

.  .  .  "  As  I  passed  through  OfFenback,  a  beau- 
tiful mother  of  six  children  came  out  to  meet  me, 
and  pressed  into  my  hand  a  leaf  of  thanks  for  the 
Levana.  Never  female  eyes,  except  yours,  looked 
so  amiably  at  me.  What  open,  beautiful  faces 
there  are  in  this  Offenbach.  The  love  of  my  fel- 
low men  is  the  only  dew  for  my  arid  soul." 

To  understand  the  first  part  of  the  letter  just 
read,  it  is  necessary  to  refer  to  a  circumstance 
mentioned  by  one  of  Richter's  biographers. 

In  his  first  journey  to  Heidelberg,  the  daughter  of 
Paulus,  the  beautiful  and  spirituelle  Sophia  Paulus, 
is  said  to  have  made  an  impression  on  the  heart  of 
Richter,  that  renewed  all  his  romantic  dreams  of 
a  spiritual  love.  This  lady  was  afterwards  cele- 
brated for  her  literary  productions,  and  by  a  short 
and  unhappy  marriage  with  William  August  Schle- 
gel.  Notwithstanding  Jean  Paul's  deep,  and  hardly 
gained  knowledge  of  the  female  heart,  he  is  said 
to  have  spoken,  after  his  return  home,  with  such 
openness  and  frequency  of  Sophia,  as  to  awake  a 
painful  jealousy,  and  humiliating  distrust  in  the 
heart  of  his  devoted  wife. 

The  reader  may  judge  by  a  letter  he  wrote  to 
the  beautiful  Sophia,  after  his  return,  how  far  the 
jealousy  of  Caroline  had  any  real  foundation. 


244  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

''  My  Sophia :  My  first  written  word  is  to  you. 
In  the  evening,  in  Manheim,  I  could  not  leave  the 
apartment  where  there  had  been  so  much  love, 
and  in  the  morning  I  could  not  remain  there,^  but 
went  for  the  whole  day  to  Steinburg.  This  Stein- 
burg  held  out  to  me  a  pure  heaven,  and  if  you 
will  share  it,  a  perfect  one.  He  and  others  would 
get  up  for  me  the  opera  of  the  Vestal,  which  is  the 
Madonna,  the  others  are  only  nuns  among  operas. 
.  .  .  You  and  the  Rhine  belong  together,  and 
when  I  meet  it  again,  your  image,  like  that  of  a 
star,  will  hover  over  it,  and  cast  a  splendor  upon 
it,  wherever  it  flows.  How  often  I  took  the  front 
seat  in  the  carriage  yesterday,  to  look  at  the  Hei- 
delberg mountains,  that  arose  shining  in  the  dis- 
tance, as  the  clouds  hung  over  the  place  where  I 
was.  .  .  .  And  so  farewell,  never-to-be-forgotten 
Sophia.  Write  me,  above  all  things,  every  pain 
that  you  feel,  for  I  know  your  joys.  Nothing 
can  divide  us,  not  even  the  great  happiness  that  I 
so  devoutly  wish  thee  !  ^  r." 

*  Sophia  and  her  father  accompanied  him  to  Manheim, on  his 
return. 

'  Her  marriage  with  August  Schlegel,  which  lasted  only  a 
few  weeks,  when  she  returned  to  her  parents  in  Heidelberg. 
The  mother  of  Sophia  was  one  of  the  most  distinguished  literary 
women  in  Germany,  and  she  was  herself  remarkable  for  her 
study  of  Shakspeare,  and  knowledge  of  English  literature. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


VISITS     MUNCHEN. RICHTER. HIS    SON    MAX. 

HIS    MELANCHOLY    AND    DEATH. 

Richtxr's  journey,  in  the  spring  of  1820,  a.d.isso, 
was  to  visit  his  son  Max,  who  had  been  ^^^**  ^^' 
placed,  at  the  age  of  sixteen,  at  the  Gymnasium 
at  Munchen.  An  extract  from  one  of  his  letters 
will  afford  an  insight  into  the  character  of  this  in- 
teresting young  man,  whose  early  death  threw  a 
cloud  over  his  family,  that  never  wholly  passed 
away. 

"  Dear  Caroline,  —  Upon  the  way  from  Regens- 
burg  to  Landshut,  God  sent  me,  in  the  forenoon, 
three  cloudless,  heavenly  blue,  sunny  hours,  and  I 
had,  for  the  first  and  last  time  in  that  journey,  an 
idylhc  frame  of  mind,  for  which  I  have  languished 
long  years  ;  and  that  endures  no  society  except  that 
of  the  coachman,  who  sings  in  the  distance  as  mine 


246  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

does.  In  the  afternoon,  where  the  distant  pros- 
pect over  Landshut  opens  richly,  the  devil  himself 
I  believe  seized  the  opportunity,  and  poured  so 
out  of  the  clouds,  that  he  drowned  the  beautiful 
Isar,  and  the  bridge  and  the  mountain  crown  over 
Landshut. 

''  This  rainy  introduction  into  Munchen  contin- 
ued as  far  as  the  Black  Eagle.  I  sought  Max  in 
vain  in  his  nest  up  five  flights  of  stairs,  and  then 
went  to  the  Schlichtgeroll's.  I  found  them  as 
spirituelle  as  in  former  times,  but  they  convinced 
me  of  a  truth  I  have  long  suspected,  that  years 
take  from  women  more  of  the  outward,  than  from 
man  of  the  inward. 

"  They  conjecturrd  that  Max  was  with  their 
son  ;  and  in  two  minutes  he  hung  sobbing  upon 
my  breast.  His  form  and  face  have  filled  out 
splendidly.  He  is  half  a  head  taller  than  I  am  ; 
blooming,  and  fuller  in  the  face.  He  was  more 
neatly  and  elegantly  dressed  than  I  am,  and  yet 
wears  only  the  clothes  he  brought  from  home. 
His  personal  appearance  corresponds  with,  yes, 
exceeds  his  letters,  and  my  whole  heart  yearns 
towards  the  pure,  free,  powerful,  but  unpretending 
youth.  As  he  went  with  me  from  the  Schlichtge- 
roll's, he  asked,  ^  how  then  is  my  mother  ? '  but 
his  voice  failed  him  for  weeping.     This  is  pure, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  247 

honest  sincerity,  without  extravagance.  He  will 
take  nothing  of  all  I  brought  for  him,  not  even  the 
watch,  as  he  says,  *  he  needs  nothing.'  ...  He 
deprived  me  of  one  night's  sleep,  by  telhng  me  of 
his  sorrowful  life  in  the  beginning  of  winter,  in  his 
first  destitute  lodgings,  with  only  a  little  iron  stove 
that  imparted  no  heat,  his  windows  broken,  and 
his  wood  stolen,  with  nothing  to  enjoy  at  morning 
and  evening,  as  at  home  ;  his  clothes,  from  his  ex- 
treme thinness,  all  too  wide  for  him  ;  and  in  the 
sohtary  city  without  one  friend,  he  wept  all  night 
from  home-sickness,  and  yet  continued  to  study 
till  twelve  o'clock." 

This  letter  will  prepare  the  reader  to  understand 
the  character  of  this  son  of  the  poet,  whose  melan- 
choly fate  opened  a  wound  in  the  father's  heart 
that  never  closed,  but  continued  to  bleed  till  it  ex- 
hausted his  own  life.  From  early  childhood  Max 
had  devoted  himself  to  learning  with  incredible 
industry.  In  his  fifteenth  year  he  had  read  the 
old  and  new  testaments  in  the  original  languages, 
Homer,  and  the  Greek  tragedians.  His  too  ascet- 
ical  and  mistaken  sense  of  duty  in  Munchen,  and 
in  Heidelberg,  where  he  was  afterwards  sent ;  the 
intensity  of  his  industry,  the  faithfulness  with 
which  he  imitated  his  father's  frugality,  the  few 
alleviations  and  comforts  he  would  allow  himself, 


248  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

and  the  high  tone  of  his  rehgious  enthusiasm,  soon 
and  imperceptibly  undermined  the  healthy  tone  of 
his  body  and  mind. 

Although  distinguished  for  the  facility  with 
which  he  learned  all  languages,  he  was  deficient 
in  imagination  and  in  creative  power,  and  the  poor 
young  man  was  discouraged  in  not  finding  the  rich 
results  he  had  expected  from  his  faithful  indus- 
try ;  and  in  his  painful  doubts  of  himself,  he  attri- 
buted his  failure  to  a  want  of  sincerity  of  purpose, 
and  took  refuge  in  the  mysticism  of  a  severe,  in- 
nocence-condemning, supernatural  theology. 

Unhappily,  Heidelberg  was  at  this  time  the  hot- 
bed of  those  unintelligible  teachers,  to  whom  the 
poor  youth  turned  for  support  in  the  sea  of  his 
doubts ;  and  when  he  could  not  comprehend  their 
mystical  and  philosophical  phrases,  he  attributed 
it  to  his  own  intellectual  incapacity,  and  instead  of 
turning  to  his  father  to  find  the  cheerful  and  ra- 
tional exercise  of  true  devotion,  he  sank  deeper  in 
despondency. 

The  early  martyrdom  of  this  interesting  youth 
was  partly  the  tragic  result  of  Jean  Paul's  system 
of  education.  The  whole  tendency  of  his  teach- 
ing is  to  cultivate  the  higher  powers  of  the  intel- 
lect, to  excite  the  imagination,  to  make  poets  and 
literary  men ;  and  those  to  whom  nature  had  not 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  249 

imparted  the  higher  intellectual  gifts,  were  dis- 
couraged in  his  presence.  His  personal  influence 
also,  upon  every  one  who  came  into  intimate  asso- 
ciation with  him,  was  overpowering ;  they  believed 
the  true  aim  of  life  was  to  become  like  him,  a 
poet,  or  a  literary  man.  Even  women  were  not 
exempt  from  this  influence,  and  his  eldest  daughter 
believed  it  her  duty  to  remain  unmarried,  and  to 
devote  herself  to  the  pursuits  of  her  father,  as  his 
companion  and  friend.  Happily,  the  instincts  of 
woman's  nature  will  sooner  or  later  lead  out  of 
the  labyrinths  of  theory,  and  after  her  father's 
death  she  became  a  happy  wife,  contented  with 
the  feminine  duties  of  a  good  hausfrau. 

Richter  had  seen  from  the  beginning  the  errors 
to  which  his  son  inclined  ;  and  though  he  had 
warned  him  seriously  and  earnestly,  he  thought 
them  perhaps  only  a  stage  in  the  intellectual 
progress  of  the  youth,  that  he  would  soon  pass 
over.  But,  alas,  the  poisoned  arrow  had  entered 
too  deeply,  and  his  father's  letters,  instead  of  heal- 
ing, but  intimated  prophetically,  the  issue.  He 
wrote  to  him : 

"  My  good  Max :  Your  letters  have  rejoiced 
and  touched  our  hearts.  But  the  Kanne  theo- 
logical watering-pot,  that  has  showered  you  so 
effectually,  makes  me  anxious  for  your  youth; 
an  irrecoverable   period  of  life,  that  should  be 


250  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

cheerful  and  joyous  without  monkish  vagaries, 
and,  but  a  preparation  for  a  serious  useful  man- 
hood. This  Kanne,  always  and  eternally  one- 
sided,  is  exactly  as  enthusiastic  in  his  theology, 
and  in  the  pitiful  life  of  his  saints,  as  he  was  in 
his  ancient  wars,  where  he  held  all  the  historical 
persons  of  the  Old  Testament,  merely  as  astro- 
nomical emblems. 

'^  Study  the  history  of  the  establishment  of 
Christianity ;  the  letters  of  the  apostles  and  evan- 
gelists, that  were  first  collected  at  the  end  of 
tlie  second  century,  that  were  known  through 
Irenius,  and  particularized  in  the  beginning  of 
the  third  century  by  Origen.  In  all  the  conversa- 
tions of  Christ  there  is  not  a  single  word  of  the 
doctrine  of  all  souls  falling  at  the  same  time  with 
Adam,  or  of  satisfaction  for  sin.  May  God,  my 
dear  son,  direct  you  to  the  cheerful  Christianity  of 
a  Herder,  and  Jacobi,  and  Kant.  Read  rather, 
as  I  did  in  Leipzig,  Arrian's  Epictetus,  the  loving 
Antoninu's  observations,  and  Plutarch's  biographies, 
than  Kanne,  who  is  as  worthless  as  an  exeget,  as 
he  is  an  historian.  There  is  no  other  Revelation, 
than  the  ever  continuing.  Our  whole  orthodoxy,  like 
Catholicism  itself,  first  centered  in  the  evangelists, 
and  every  century  opens  and  produces  new  views. 
Oh,  could  I  complete  my  work  on  2dtra  Christian- 
ity !     With  this  new  monkism  you  will  destroy  in 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  251 

yourself  all  joy,  power  and  ardor,  and  in  the  end 
gain  nothing. 

"  I  am  somewhat  calmed  with  regard  to  your 
ultra  christian  despondency,  by  the  hope  that  it 
has  a  physical  source  in  your  exclusively  sedentary 
and  studious  life.  It  is  indeed  a  poor  consolation. 
The  vigor  of  youth  may  enable  you  for  some  years 
to  surpass  others  in  knowledge,  but  then  alas !  my 
son !  you  come  before  me,  in  imagination,  in  the 
years  of  full  ripeness,  twenty-five  or  thirty,  pale, 
emaciated  !  apparently  more  dead  than  alive ! 
God  spare  me  that  sight !  " 

The  father  was,  indeed,  spared  that  sight !  — 
The  inclination  of  his  son  to  mysticism  took  a 
more  decided  form,  and  leaving  philology  as  a 
human  science,  he  devoted  himself  entirely  to 
theology,  as  to  the  free  gift  of  God.  Rehgious 
enthusiasm  assumed  with  this  poor  young  man  not 
only  the  form  of  distrust  in,  and  contempt  for  all 
his  intellectual  gifts,  but  it  was  united  with  a 
severe  asceticism  of  life,  that  he  concealed  for  a  long 
time  from  his  parents.  To  his  strenuous  self-con- 
suming industry,  he  added  the  most  limited  parsi- 
mony in  food  and  expenses  of  every  kind,  and 
threw  over  this  life-consuming  self-denial,  the 
tender  veil  of  duty,  thinking  thus  to  spare  his 
parents  every  sacrifice  on  his  account. 


252  LIFE  OF  JEAN  PAUL. 

His  mother,  also,  upon  whom  he  hung  with 
childhke  love,  and  who  stood  by  him  as  a  con- 
soling and  protecting  spirit,  wrote  to  him  thus  : 

..."  Your  letter,  under  all  the  views  we  can 
take  of  it,  must  yet  make  us  melancholy ;  and  I 
hasten,  before  every  thing  else,  to  inform  you  of 
it,  and  draw  you,  dear  Max,  from  your  tormenting 
errors.  Your  father  loves  you  inexpressibly,  and 
esteems  you  so  entirely,  that  he  can  ask  nothing 
from  Providence,  but  such  a  son  as  you  are.  I, 
and  your  sisters,  and  all  our  friends,  bless  God 
that  you  are  so  pure,  so  innocent,  the  joy  of  your 
family,  and  of  the  world  ;  that  you  have  preserved 
the  honesty  and  truth  of  your  mind  in  striving 
after  science,  and  that  there  is  ever  developed  in 
you  the  love  of  the  holy,  the  true,  and  the  beauti- 
ful. What  would  you  then  further  ?  Can  men 
be  gods  ?  Nothing  is  to  be  said  against  your 
placing  your  ideal  so  very  high.  But  if  your 
jealousy  of  yourself,  on  one  side,  holds  you  in  that 
touching  humility  that  so  well  becomes  the  great- 
est men,  yet  real  religion  is  only  apparent,  when 
added  to  our  earnest  struggle  for  the  highest, 
cheerfulness  stands  as  a  companion  at  her  side. 
To  strive  against  the  limitations  of  humanity, 
that  are  opposed  more  or  less  to  every  individual 
mind,  is  not  pious  —  is  not  permitted  by   God. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  953 

Oh,  suffer  your  beautiful  enthusiasm  for  faith,  to 
show  itself  in  this  childlike  submission.  Strive, 
but  torture  not  yourself  with  just  nor  unjust  crim^ 
inations,  when  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  be- 
long to  you.  Depend  upon  the  aid  that  is  lent 
you,  and  the  success  flowing  therefrom  will  give 
you  rest  and  peace. 

*  The  lioness  covets  not  the  lion's  mane ; 
The  mother  pheasant,  sighs  not  for  ornament; 
With  proud  neck  the  swan  sails  the  sea, 
Humbly,  his  mate  shelters  her  young. 
The  rivulet  murmurs  most  sweetly, 
But  bears  no  proud  navy  on  its  breast. 
The  ruby  outlasts  the  fragrant  rose, 
But  the  dewy  tears  of  evening 
Shed  no  mild  radiance  from  it. 
Vain  man  !     What  wouldst  thou  be  ? 
Be  thyself!     Covet  no  greater  gift.' 

"  This  extract  from  Plato's  poems,  that  pleased 
me  so  much  on  the  first  reading,  happily  expresses 
my  views.  Oh  how  painful  to  me  is  your  melan- 
choly, and  the  slavish,  unjust  self-accusation  before 
God,  that  impairs  all  your  active  powers  ;  that 
excess  of  religious  sensibility,  that  instead  of  the 
cheerful  and  loving  power  of  christian  faith,  pours 
only  death-streams  into  all  the  veins  of  life. 

"  Adieu,  my  dear  son.  I  embrace  you  a  thou- 
sand times,  with  the  warmest  love." 


254  LIFE    OF   JEAN    PAUL. 

This  wise  and  tenderly  maternal  letter,  will 
make  the  reader  regret  there  are  not  more  of 
Caroline's  to  her  son,  where  the  riches  of  an  intel- 
lectual nature  are  united  with  the  tenderness  of  a 
mother's  heart. 

The  anxious  solicitude  of  the  parents  of  Max 
was  only  too  soon  justified.  The  too  sensitive 
and  conscientious  youth  returned  home  at  the  end 
of  the  year,  shaken,  pale,  emaciated!  and  a  ner- 
vous fever  of  a  few  days'  continuance,  consigned 
him  to  an  early  grave. 

This  melancholy  death  of  his  son,  at  the  age  of 
nineteen,  like  a  heavy  blow,  seemed  to  strike  our 
Richter  to  the  earth.  The  firm,  strong  man, 
whom  we  have  seen,  like  a  block  of  marble,  by 
every  previous  stroke  becoming  only  more  polished 
and  statuelike,  was  shattered  and  broken  by  the 
death  of  his  son.  He  could  not  bear  the  sight  of 
any  book  his  son  had  touched  ;  and  the  word 
Philology,  (the  science  in  which  Max  excelled) 
went  through  his  heart  like  a  bolt  of  ice.  He 
had  such  wonderful  power  over  himself  as  to  go 
on  with  his  comic  romance  of  Nicholas  Margraff, 
while  his  eyes  continually  dropped  tears.  He 
wept  so  much  in  secret  that  his  eyes  became  im- 
paired, and  he  trembled  for  the  total  loss  of  sight. 
Wine,   that  had  previously,  after  long-suslained 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  255 

labor,  been  a  cordial  to  him,  he  could  not  bear  to 
touch ;  and  after  employing  the  morning  in  writing, 
he  spent  the  whole  afternoon  lying  on  the  sofa 
in  his  wife's  apartment,  his  head  supported  by 
her  arm.  Caroline  stifled  the  yearnings  of  a 
mother,  bereaved  of  her  only  son,  to  comfort 
and  support  her  husband,  She  contrived  every 
artifice  to  draw  him  from  his  grief — proposing 
amusements  for  her  daughters,  to  induce  him  to 
dress  and  shake  off  his  despondency,  and  go  out ; 
but  at  the  same  time  she  represented  him  "  as  a 
true  angel "  in  his  sorrow. 

At  the  end  of  three  months  Richter  was  able  to 
write  to  his  friend,  Henry  Voss. 

"  How  often,  for  a  quarter  of  a  year,  have  you 
complained  of  me,  excused  me,  and  again  com- 
plained, and  yet  at  last  excused  me,  poor  devil 
that  I  am.  Ah !  I  could  not  do  otherwise.  My 
being  has  suffered  not  merely  a  wound,  but  a  com- 
plete cutting  off  of  all  joy.  All  former  losses  are 
unlike  the  last,  and  my  longing  after  him  grows 
always  more  painful.  Not  on  his  account  do  I 
need  consolation,  but  for  the  loss  of  his  love.  I 
have  still  the  power  to  avoid  constantly  dwelHng 
upon  him,  although  every  Grecian  author,  yes,  even 
the  word  Philology  cuts  me  to  the  heart.     But  to 


256  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

hear  or  see  anything  that  was  his !     Ah,  that  I 
cannot  bear  !     Enough  of  this. 

"  I  am  revising  the  third  volume  of  the  Comet, 
The  book  upon  immortahty  demands  the  strength, 
that  I  can  only  dare  to  think  of  in  the  fullness 
of  health.  In  looking  over  the  thirty  years'  work 
I  find,  that  it  descends  into  the  depths  of  philoso- 

phy-' 

I  will  open  new  light  for  a  thousand  veiled  and 
tearful  eyes,  and  shew  them  new  kingdoms  in  the 
future  world  of  existence  !  What  new  year  shall 
I  wish  to  you  all  ?  One  only,  that  has  not  the  most 
distant  resemblance  to  my  own  !  ^ 

^  The  Campaner  Thai.  Jean  Paul  began,  on  the  day  of  his 
son's  burial,  a  new  work  on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  upon  the 
foundation  of  the  Campaner  Thai. 

^  In  Richter's  letters  to  his  wife,  I  have  translated  only  what 
was  personal  to  himself  and  family  ;  allusions  to  persons  and 
passing  events  are  wholly  unintelligible  to  us. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


RICHTER    VISITS    DRESDEN. THE     IMPRESSION    HE 

MADE    UPON    HIS    RELATIVES. 

When  the  spring  returned,  that  season  ^  ^  jggg 
that  Richter  so  loved,  and  that  had  never  ^sedsg. 
failed  to  exhilarate  him,  his  friends  urged  him 
again  to  journey,  hoping  to  awaken  new  hopes,  or 
to  turn  his  thoughts  from  his  heart-consuming 
sorrow.  The  loss  of  his  son,  also,  made  him  wish 
to  draw  closer  the  bonds  of  relationship  with  the 
members  of  his  wife's  family.  Caroline's  sister, 
Minna  Spazier,  had  lived  many  years  in  DresdeUj 
and  supported  her  orphan  children  by  her  literary 
exertions.^     One  of  these  sons  was  born  in  the 

'  Caroline  Wilhelmine,  called  Minna  Spazier,  married  the 
second  time,  a  person  of  the  name  of  Ulhe,  and  added  his  name 
to  that  of  Spazier,  her  literary  name.  She  was  now  living  in 
Dresden,  editor  of  the  Slnngrun  (Evergreen)  a  periodical,  in 
which  Jean  Paul,  and  many  distinguished  female  authors 
assisted  her. 

VOL.    II.  17 


258  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

same  year  and  month  with  the  poet's  son  Max. 
Such  a  coincidence  could  not  fail  to  interest  the 
imagination  of  a  man  who  attached  so  much  im- 
portance to  coincidences,  and  to  the  time  of  his 
own  birth.  He  wrote,  therefore,  to  his  sister-in- 
law : 

^'  I  come  to  you  with  a  written  petition,  for 
which  I  will  thank  you  verbally.  In  April  I  would 
enjoy  again  the  beautiful  city  of  Dresden,  where 
many  years  ago,  in  the  train  of  the  Frau  von  Ber- 
lespsch,  I  lost  more  than  I  found.  Ah!  I  need 
now  not  to  forget,  for  that  would  be  impossible,  but 
to  continue  to  remember  all  that  I  have  ever  loved. 
I  seek  in  Dresden  only  music,  nature,  that  is,  the 
environs  of  the  city,  and  loving  men.  In  myself, 
much  has  changed.  Time  treats  wounded  men 
like  a  block  of  marble,  and  beats  off,  with  heavy 
blows,  piece  after  piece,  even  if  it  were  the  form 
of  a  son.     Ah  !    that  we  were  indeed  of  marble  !  " 

To  the  young  Richard  Spazier,  the  twin  cousin 
of  Max,  to  whom  we  have  been  much  indebted 
through  the  course  of  this  biography,  we  owe  an 
account  of  the  first  meeting  with  Richter. 

"  The  children  had  been  educated  in  the  utmost 
reverence  for  their  uncle,  the  poet,  and  although 
they  had  heard  of  his  works,  they  had  never  read 
a  line  of  his.    Their  mother  received  the  announce- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  259 

merit  of  his  visit  with  some  timidity,  and  prepared 
her  children  for  his  reception  with  stories  of  his 
severity,  of  his  penetrating  knowledge  of  every 
weakness  in  others,  and  infinite  firmness  in  their 
suppression  in  himself.  He  says,  ^  even  my  eldest 
pattern  brother  trembled  at  the  thought  of  appear- 
ing before  Richter.  My  situation  was  most  pain- 
ful ;  born  on  the  same  year  and  day  with  his  own 
son  Max,  my  mother,  in  her  maternal  solicitude, 
looked  upon  it  as  the  finger  of  Providence,  indi- 
cating that  I  should  supply  to  the  afflicted  father 
the  loss  of  his  son,  and  pointed  out  this  as  the  de- 
cisive moment  of  my  life.  Ah,  what  could  be  ex- 
pected of  a  youth  of  nineteen  years,  who  had  never 
read  a  line  of  his  works,  who  had  been  half  a  year 
at  the  university,  and  was  just  in  the  most  shining 
period  of  Philistery.^  What  would  the  severe 
moralist  say  to  my  beard,  my  renownist^  dress,  my 
pipe,  my  open  breast,  my  unshorn  locks.  I  heard 
his  voice  in  the  hall  and  would  have  fled,  but  it 
was  too  late,  and  pale  as  a  cloth,  and  with  trem- 
bhng  hps  I  stood  before  him.  But  it  was  only  for 
a  moment,  and  fear  gave  place  to  astonishment.  I 
saw  a  strong,  but  undersized,  apparently  kind- 
hearted  man,  with  brown  face,  an  eye  that  did  not 

^  For  the  meaning  of  these  words  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Howit's  "  Student's  Life  in  Germany." 


260  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

annihilate,  but  beamed  mildly,  even  tenderly  upon 
me.  He  was  dressed  in  a  summer  coat  of  invisi- 
ble green,  with  a  straw  hat.  He  held  a  strong 
stick  in  his  hand,  and  was  followed  by  a  white 
poodle.  I  felt  in  a  moment  that  here  was  a  man 
who  would  leave  to  every  one  his  own  indepen- 
dence, who  would  not  make  himself  the  standard 
of  morals  or  manners,  and  that  the  want  of  a  neck- 
cloth would  be  no  crime  in  his  eyes.  And  so  it 
remained  the  whole  time  he  was  with  us  —  he  de- 
manded nothing  —  he  asked  not  that  we  should 
give  him  our  time,  or  yield  our  opinions  to  his. 
He  received,  gratefully,  the  attentions  we  offered 
him,  but  left  every  one  the  liberty  to  speak  freely 
the  freest  opinions.  Instead  of  feeling  reserve  or 
constraint  in  his  presence,  he  seemed  to  enlarge 
the  region  of  self-dependence,  to  excite  and  draw 
out  the  resources  of  our  minds.  My  students' 
nature,  that  others  abhorred,  he  would  draw  to- 
wards him  and  protect  —  yes,  he  was  often  the 
direct  advocate  of  youthful  impulses. 

"  After  he  had  been  with  us  some  time,  from 
gratitude,  and,  perhaps,  to  give  him  pleasure,  I 
read  the  most  celebrated  of  his  works,  the  Titan  : 
the  book  left  me  for  the  most  part  cold,  with  the 
exception  of  the  charming  scenes  in  Italy,  and 
the  character  of  Linda ;    but  my  indignation  was 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  261 

extreme  at  the  catastrophe  of  Linda.  Richler 
received,  without  the  smallest  surprise,  my  decla- 
ration, that  I  had  never  before  read  anything 
of  his,  and  observed  just  as  calmly,  that  I  wsls 
extremely  displeased  at  the  fate  of  Linda.  He 
even  led  himself,  to  my  excuse,  by  saying  that  Ja- 
cobi,  and  the  best  judges,  had  expressed  the  same 
displeasure ;  but  for  the  purpose  he  had  in  view  it 
could  not  have  been  otherwise ;  and  no  encou- 
ragement to  read  another  of  his  works  passed  his 
lips.  At  last,  it  happened  one  morning,  that  he 
asked  after  my  studies,  and  my  aim  in  life.  I 
answered  only,  'that  I  would  learn  all  that  was 
best  and  most  beautiful,  but  that  I  had  not  yet 
made  choice  of  a  profession.'  He  sought  to  help 
me  to  know  myself,  by  asking  ••  if  I  had  not  a 
favorite  author  ? '  I  had  not,  at  that  time,  but  I 
told  him  '  that  as  a  boy  I  had  learnt  Homer  by 
heart,  and  that  I  now  longed  to  read  Tacitus.' 
'I  see,'  said  he,  *  that,  like  every  youth,  you 
would  be  an  author,'  and  he  asked  me  to  show 
him  any  essay  that  I  had  ever  attempted  to 
write,  etc." 

In  the  five  weeks  that  Richter  spent  in  Dresden, 
everything  united,  as  by  mutual  consent,  to  restore 
his  wounded  spirit  to  its  former  cheerfulness.  The 
fairest  blue  heaven  rested  the  whole  time  upon  the 


262  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

valley  of  the  Elbe.  Distinguished  strangers,  such 
as  Tieck,  Tiege,  Bottiger,  and  Carl  Forster  were 
then  in  Dresden.  The  inhabitants,  indeed,  mani- 
fested for  him  nothing  but  curiosity,  and  the  court 
did  not  notice  him.  Distinguished  and  accom- 
plished women,  as  usual,  crowded  around  him  ;  but, 
to  avoid  all  exciting  emotions,  he  strictly  adhered 
to  the  rule  he  had  laid  down  for  himself,  not  to 
visit  more  than  once  at  any  house.  His  sister-in- 
law's  family  afforded  him  a  domestic  circle,  where 
he  could  enjoy  the  privacy  and  the  intimate  friend- 
ship he  loved.  The  highly  nervous  state  of  his 
mind  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  avoid  all  ex- 
citement, and  all  deep  impressions.  He  therefore 
did  not  set  his  foot  within  the  Dresden  gallery,  or 
any  other  hall  of  art.  He  avoided  the  theatres, 
and  only  once  heard  a  mass  in  a  Catholic  church, 
surrounded  by  friends  who  shielded  him  from  all 
exciting  emotions. 

A  lady  at  this  time  speaks  thus  of  his  reserve 
and  self-control  in  society,  when  he  did  not  always 
take  the  hand  that  was  held  out  to  him,  and  suf- 
fered ladies  to  stand  long  moments,  unnoticed  be- 
hind his  chair.  "  These  little  apparent  incivilities 
should  not  bring  into  question  the  just,  enlight- 
ened, ever-compassionate  disposition,  that  has 
made  the  soul  of  this  extraordinary  man  its  tem- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  263 

pie.  How  beautifully  does  he  extend  to  every  one, 
even  the  least  intellectual  in  society,  a  spiritual 
arm.  He  comes  to  the  aid  of  the  poorest  with  the 
riches  of  the  mind.  How  his  host  and  hostess 
revere  him.  A  wild  animal,  since  he  has  been 
under  their  roof,  has  become  mild  and  humane  ;  a 
miser  would  build  a  house,  merely  to  make  him  a 
convenient  chamber.  No,  never  shall  I  forget  the 
night  when  my  daughter,  suffering  from  a  severe 
toothache,  burst  into  his  lodgings  at  midnight,  and 
waked  him  suddenly  from  his  first  sleep.  How 
indulgently  he  came,  barefooted,  down  the  garden 
steps,  for  the  fainting  child  had  thrown  herself  into 
a  garden  seat,  and  began  to  stroke  her  magneti- 
cally. Soon  her  pain  was  alleviated,  and  after  half 
an  hour  she  was  carried  in  a  deep  sleep  to  her  own 
house." 

How  did  Richter  himself  enjoy  what  gave  others 
so  much  pleasure  ?  He  wrote  to  Caroline  :  "After 
a  long  time  a  blue  sky  is  united  with  blue  moun- 
tains. .  .  .  God  wills,  that  I  should  again,  and 
without  display,  be  a  little  joyful.  Among  the 
women  who  here  particularly  interest  me,  is  the 
wife  of  professor  Forster,  who  sends  me  frequently, 
by  her  httle  daughter,  fruit  and  flowers.  I  enjoy 
here  many  pleasures  through  the  society  of  enlight- 


264  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ened  men,  and  the  arts,  but  I  long  inexpressibly 
for  our  life  again,  at  home  together." 

To  his  young  friend,  Henry  Voss,  he  also  wrote  : 
"  The  pleasure-gardens  of  Dresden  exceed  all  Ger- 
many in  beauty  of  prospect.  The  Bruhlesh  ter- 
race, in  the  evening,  with  its  lights,  mountains,  the 
bridge  and  the  Elbe,  gave  me  an  hour  of  inward 
inspiration,  that  I  have  for  many  years  sought  in 
vain  ;  when  all  hovered  over  me  as  in  the  spring 
of  youth,  and  within  and  without  all  were  blessed 
dreams.  It  was  not  melancholy,  not  even  long- 
ing ;  but  full  intoxication  of  happiness  from  within. 

The  Dresden  weeks  were  the  last  of  light  and 
joy  Richter  ever  passed.  The  death  of  his  friend 
Henry  Voss,  immediately  after,  bereaved  him  of 
one  who  hung  upon  him  even  with  feminine  ten- 
derness ;  and  it  was  during  the  Dresden  residence 
that  he  accidentally  discovered  that  the  sight  of  his 
left  eye  was  so  much  gone,  that  he  could  only  see 
about  one  inch  from  it,  and  that  the  right  eye  also 
was  rapidly  failing. 

He  wrote  most  touchingly  to  the  mother  of  Hen- 
ry:  .  .  .  ''He  and  my  Max  lie  buried  in  my  soul 
in  one  grave,  for  I  know  how  both  could  love  me  ! 
Whatever  other  powers  your  Henry  possessed,  one 
glowed  within  him  with   resistless    fervor  —  the 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  265 

disciple  John's  capacity  of  loving.  It  was  strong, 
firm,  trusting,  sacrificing ;  but  not  the  accidental 
impulse  of  an  imbecile.  His  heart  beat  as  strongly 
against  one,  as  for  another.  Oh,  Henry  !  forever 
lost !  Never  more  upon  this  earth  shall  I  be  so 
loved  ;  but  even  this  guaranties  to  thee  and  to  us 
the  assurance  of  meeting  again.  The  sciences 
need  for  their  enjoyment  no  immortahty ;  but  love 
demands  the  continuance  of  its  objects  !  May 
your  husband  and  son  bind  up  your  maternal 
heart,  till  the  wound  closes,  or  until  all  depart  to- 
gether to  join  the  lost  one." 

It  may  seem  to  the  reader,  that  there  has  been 
in  the  last  year  of  Jean  Paul's  life,  an  unmanly 
despondency,  inconsistent  with  that  Christian  sto- 
icism with  which  he  bore  all  his  early  disappoint- 
ments. But  to  one  whose  whole  employment  and 
life  had  consisted  in  literary  pursuits,  who  had  still 
many  works  planned,  for  which  he  had  made  vol- 
uminous preparation,  the  prospect  of  closing  his 
writing-desk  and  leaving  his  work  unfinished,  must 
have  been  full  of  melancholy.  He  had  planned, 
also,  before  the  death  of  his  friend  Voss,  a  com- 
plete revision  of  all  his  printed  works,  in  a  new 
and  improved  edition,  for  which  Voss  was  to  be- 
come the  editor.  He  had  also  begun  the  Autobi- 
ograj)hy,  which  makes  the  first  part  of  this  work ; 


266  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

and  his  reluctance  to  speak  of  himself  at  first,  and 
the  cloud  which  his  son's  death  threw  over  the 
present,  prevented  him  from  continuing  that  pic- 
ture of  his  youth,  that  lay  behind  him  in  magic 
sun-light.  But  above  all,  there  lay  warm  on  his 
heart  his  beloved  work  on  the  Immortality  of  the 
Soul ;  that  work,  by  the  beginning  of  which  he 
had  consecrated  the  burial-day  of  his  Max,  and 
from  whose  sepulchre  he  hoped  it  would  rise  phoe- 
nix-like, and  point  the  way  to  that  immortal  home, 
which  was  indeed  the  home  of  his  spirit,  and  that 
where  he  now  centered  his  dearest  hopes.  And 
after  all  these  works  were  completed  and  all  his 
life's  duties  finished,  he  had  held,  bright  in  pros- 
pect before  him,  a  journey  to  Switzerland  and 
Italy,  countries  that  he  had  thirsted  to  visit,  and 
that  he  had  looked  to  as  the  reward  of  a  life  of 
industry  and  zeal ;  but  now  a  dark  cloud  had  de- 
scended, and  blotted  out  all  but  the  inward  con- 
sciousness of  duty  fulfilled. 

Richter's  nephew  mentions  the  pain  with  which 
Jean  Paul  recurred,  in  his  last  days,  to  the  loss  he 
had  suffered  in  never  having  been  able  to  look 
upon  the  sea  ;  and  his  severe  disappointment,  that 
in  his  latter  days  he  could  not  have  ascended  the 
Rigi,  where,  he  fancied,  he  should  see  nature  in 
her  greatest  elevation  and  her  most  lovely  beauty. 


CHAPTER  IX. 


THE  PURELY  COMIC  WORKS  OF  JEAN  PAUL.  —  THE 
LIFE  OF  FIBEL.  — NICHOLAS  MARGRAF,  OR  THE 
COMET. 

I  HAVE  omitted,  for  the  purpose  of  bringing  the 
active  part  of  the  life  of  Jean  Paul  to  a  close,  all 
mention  of  his  later,  and  purely  comic  works. 
After  the  publication  of  the  Flegelyahre  the  troubles 
of  the  wars  of  Napoleon  came  on,  when  his  deep 
interest  in  the  fate  of  his  country,  and  the  neces- 
sity of  providing  for  the  daily  demands  of  his 
family  by  short  narratives,  essays  and  reviews,  that 
brought  an  immediate  pecuniary  return,  prevented 
him  from  completing  any  great  and  long-sustained 
work.  The  Life  of  Fib  el,  which  he  says  in  the 
preface  was  begun  in  1806,  was  given  to  the  public 
in  1812.  In  this  preface,  Paul  calls  the  work  "an 
octavo  volume,  in  which  some  few  harmless,  guilt- 


268 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


less,  lightless,  splendorless  beings,  with  the  Uke 
fate,  hve  their  Httle  hfe.  The  whole  is  a  quieting 
still  life,  a  cradle  for  the.  Farniente  of  growing 
readers  ;  a  soft,  gray,  evening  rain,  that  instead  of 
drawing  perfume  from  flowers,  draws  it  from  the 
lowly,  invisible  earth  ;  where  at  most  only  a  finger- 
breadth  of  evening  glow  shines  out." 

Spazier  says,  that  Fibel  was  as  much  a  turning- 
point  in  the  author's  works  as  was  the  Invisible 
Lodge;  and  both  are  explained  and  understood 
only,  through  his  life  and  his  succeeding  works. 
The  first  was  written  at  the  period,  when  emotion 
and  earnest  feeling  burst  forth  from  the  ice-rind, 
in  which  the  winter-cold  of  satire  had  imprisoned 
them.  In  the  following  season  of  blooming  and 
ever-increasing  love,  he  had  risen  in  creative  pow- 
er, and  in  richness  of  fancy,  as  his  experience  of 
life  became  more  varied  and  full,  till  he  reached 
nearly  his  own  ideal  in  the  Titan.  Here,  in  ripened 
power  and  self-consciousness,  he  followed  with  the 
Flegelyahre,  in  which  he  analyzed  and  exhibited 
his  inseparable  double  nature ;  his  deep  and  ear- 
nest emotion,  united  with  excentric  and  comic 
humor.  In  the  Esthetics,  he  sought  to  justify 
and  reconcile  his  poetical  pecuharities,  and  the 
nature  of  his  works,  with  the  universal  laws  of 
art  and  beauty.     But  now  in  these  last  works  he 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  269 

returned  to  the  point  from  which  he  started ;  but 
with  altered  views,  the  result  of  his  life  and 
experience.  The  calm  satisfaction  and  content- 
ment, the  harmonious  quiet,  the  spirit  of  repose 
and  order  that  breathed  in  his  life,  is  imparted  to 
all  the  works  that  were  written  after  the  Titan, 
There  is  moderation  in  his  earnestness  and  emo- 
tion, as  well  as  a  genial  tenderness  in  his  humor, 
that  divides  these  last  from  his  earlier  works,  and 
proves  that  his  poetry  was  only  the  reflection  of 
his  life,  and  deeply  rooted  in  it. 

The  theme  of  all  Jean  Paul's  works  is  the  same, 
whatever  the  form  in  which  it  is  expressed  or 
evolved.  This  theme,  the  experience  in  human 
life,  from  the  Godlike  in  man,  in  contention  with 
the  littleness  of  life ;  the  spark  of  the  immortal, 
struggling  with  earthly  damps  and  obstructions. 
This,  in  Paul's  convictions,  is  not  the  distinction  of 
the  few,  who,  in  lively  consciousness  of  the  con- 
test, think  themselves  unfortunate  beings,  but  is 
more  or  less  the  inheritance  of  every  human  being. 
In  his  latter  works  it  is  no  longer  a  subject  for 
pain,  for  the  illusions  of  life  soften  its  strivings, 
and  in  themselves  make  man  happy.  He  is  healed 
by  the  same  spear  that  wounds  him.  The  striv- 
ings of  the  ideal  in  man  ;  the  disproportion  be- 
tween his  aspirations  and  his  attainments,  that  in 


270  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

his  earlier  satires  were  the  occasion  of  bitter  jests  ; 
become  in  his  later  works,  the  subject  of  a  genial 
and  sympathizing  humor.  The  illusions  that  nour- 
ish these  aspirations,  become  the  source  of  the 
highest  and  purest  joys  in  elevated  characters ; 
and  often  produce  in  others,  as  in  Don  Quixotte, 
a  humor  in  which  the  noblest  minds  can  sympa- 
thize. Fihel  has  his  illusions,  that  recreate  his 
whole  life  ;  but  the  ludicrous  contrasts  in  it  are 
purely  objective,  and  are  revealed  to  the  reader 
alone.  The  author  jokes  here,  as  in  his  satires, 
but  with  wholly  different  feelings,  with  sorrow- 
enlightened  wisdom,  rather  than  cutting  contempt. 
He  contrives  to  maintain  in  the  breast  of  the 
reader,  the  secret  consciousness,  that  he  is  an  ex- 
ception to  the  general  folly,  that  would  live  upon 
illusions  ;  a  feeling  that  gives  to  every  satirical 
work  its  principal  value.  It  produces,  therefore, 
a  strange  mixture  of  feehng,  the  consciousness  of 
universal  insufficiency,  and  of  individual  success. 
This  is  partly  the  effect  of  the  limited  nature  of 
his  hero,  and  partly  the  result  of  the  period  in 
which  it  was  written,  and  the  circumstances  of  the 
author's  life. 

The  outward  relations  of  Jean  Paul  had  be- 
come so  harmonious  and  happy,  that  his  mind 
was  kept  in  perfect  equilibrium.     He  had  reached 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  271 

as  far  as  is  ever  allowed  humanity  to  attain,  to  the 
ideal  of  his  former  aspirations  ;  his  pension  of  four 
hundred  dollars,  raised  him  above  all  pecuniary 
anxiety  ;  his  children,  blooming  in  health  of  body 
and  mind,  hung  upon  him  vt^ith  infinite  love  ;  he 
enjoyed  the  fruit  of  his  early  industry  in  his  ma- 
terials for  further  works,  and  the  food  of  his  mind, 
in  the  environment  of  his  beloved  nature ;  his 
works  appeared  to  him  the  best  that  he  could 
create,  and  their  failures  and  imperfections  not 
as  peculiar  to  them,  but  as  belonging  to  the  uni- 
versal imperfection  of  humanity. 

The  Germans  deem  the  author  more  successful 
in  his  later,  than  in  his  earlier  works.  His  hu- 
morous works  are  more  completely  aitistical,  and 
perfect  as  works  of  art  than  his  serious.  Although 
ht  thought  otherwise,  humor  is  more  completely 
his  native  element.  He  could  not  represent  a  per- 
fect, unfortunate,  elevated  character ;  but  he  was 
completely  successful  in  his  happy  fools  and  sim- 
pletons. 

Fihel  is  nothing  less  than  the  Don  Quixotte  of 
literature ;  not  merely  in  the  construction  of  his 
ABC  book,  with  its  bad  pictures,  and  worse 
verses  ;  but  he  beheves  he  is  a  world-blessing  ge- 
nius, and  that  he  has  given  to  posterity  the  most 
precious  works,  when  he  has  collected  and    put 


272  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

his  name  to  all  the  old  contemptible  rubbish  swept 
from  the  waste  heaps  of  a  bookseller's  shelves. 
Richter,  who  always  united  persiflage  upon  him- 
self with  universal  satire,  represents  the  heteroge- 
neous contents  of  the  books  printed  with  the  name 
of  Fibel,  as  not  unlike  his  own  productions,  pre- 
pared from  his  world-wide  extract  books ;  and 
identifies  the  enviable  happiness  of  a  being  gifted 
with  the  illusion  of  Fibel,  with  himself,  as  the  re- 
lator of  it,  and  endeavors  to  remove  the  joke  from 
his  hero  to  himself.  The  reader  finds  himself  in 
Fibel's  childhood,  upon  the  same  ground  and  un- 
der the  same  circumstances  as  in  the  poet's  earlier 
Idyls.  In  the  schoolhouses  of  Joditz  and  Schwarz- 
enbach,  with  the  well-known  consumptive  figure 
of  the  finch-hunting  schoolmaster,  and  believes 
at  first,  that  as  Wuz  and  Fixlien  had  both  busied 
themselves  with  literary  amusements,  this  is  only  a 
repetition  of  their  characters.  But  Fibel  differs 
from  them  in  this,  that  it  establishes  the  possibility 
of  the  happiest  and  most  joyful  existence,  in  the 
abdication  of  all  wishes  and  employments,  except 
those  connected  with  the  illusion.  The  hero  seeks 
no  honey  except  that  made  from  the  modest  flow- 
ers of  his  own  little  garden.  This  stands,  there- 
fore, in  intimate  connection  and  contrast  with  the 
theme  of  the  serious  romances  —  the  misery  which 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  273 

the  unsatisfied  demands  of  an  over-excited  imagi- 
nation, occasion  in  the  breast  of  man,  being  the 
theme  of  some  of  the  former. 

Between  the  pubhcation  of  Fibel  and  the  Comet, 
Paul  had  the  happiness  to  prepare  many  of  his  old 
works  for  new  editions.  We  are  reminded  in 
this,  as  well  as  in  his  love  of  animals,  and  in  many 
other  peculiarities,  of  his  resemblance  to  Sir  Walter 
Scott.  It  was  a  work  of  love.  His  new  editions 
were  all  furnished  with  new  prefaces,  from  which, 
as  in  Scott's  many  humorous  incidents,  and  little 
biographical  particulars  may  be  gathered. 

In  the  Comet,  the  other  humorous  romance  of 
Richter,   the   same  idea  (happiness,  from  the  illu- 
sions of  life,  rendered  comic  by  the  disproportion 
between  the  means  and  the  end,)  hes,  as  with  Fi- 
bel, at  the   foundation  of  the  work.     But  the  con- 
ditions of  happiness,  through  the  preponderance  of 
imagination  in   the  hero  of  the    Comet,  are  two  ; 
First,   the  power  of  this  fancy  turns  within  upon 
the  possessor,   and   plays  only  before   him  ;  and, 
secondly,  his  intellectual  power  is  so  limited  that 
he  is  not  conscious  of  the  errors  and  falsehoods 
that  his   fancy  impose  upon  him.     This  seems  to 
differ  little   from  the  fixed  idea  of  any  madman, 
and  Jean   Paul  might  have  found  a  hero  for  his 
romance  in  almost  any  lunatic  asylum.     This  is 

VOL.  II.  18 


274  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

the  opposite  of  that  exalted  fanaticism  of  Eman- 
uel, Liana,  Linda  and  Gustavus,  who  would  bring 
into  actual  life  the  ideal  of  a  higher  existence, 
which  is  now  in  contradiction  with  this  actual  life, 
but  hereafter  may  be  the  soundest  wisdom.  To 
such  exaltation  all  poetical  natures  are  more  or 
less  inclined.  Every  species  of  unrestrained  imagi- 
nation leads  to  innocent  madness  ;  if  from  outward 
circumstances  it  has  not  playroom,  it  concentrates 
itself  upon  a  fixed  idea,  that  has  no  connection 
with  the  circumstances  of  actual  life. 

The  difference  between  Don  Quixotte  and  the 
hero  of  the  Comet  is  as  wide  as  the  circumstances 
of  the  times  and  of  their  respective  nations.  Cer- 
vantes placed  the  eccentricity  of  the  fixed  idea  of 
his  hero  close  upon  the  limits  of  probability,  while 
he  unites  with  the  errors  of  imagination  in  Don 
Quixotte,  a  refined  understanding  and  extensive 
cultivation  ;  and  the  satire  turns  upon  the  mania 
of  the  people  of  an  age  just  passed.  In  our  times, 
the  fixed  idea  carried  to  such  absurd  extent,  would 
soon  make  its  possessor  the  inmate  of  an  asylum. 

Jean  Paul  takes,  for  the  hero  of  the  Comet,  a 
man  whose  phantasy  has  led  him,  from  his  earliest 
youth,  to  cherish  the  imagination  that  he  is  the  son 
of  a  prince,  and  that  he  must  so  accomplish  himself 
as  to  act  the  prince  through  life,  and  thus  he  will 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  275 

find  the  father  upon  whose  throne  he  expects  to  as- 
cend. The  psychological  interest,  and  the  humor- 
ous result,  arise  from  his  efforts  to  conduct  himself 
right  royally,  in  the  midst  of  the  most  ludicrous 
outward  difficulties,  and  surrounded  by  unbeliev- 
ing friends,  who  make  sport  of  him,  and  from  the 
blindness  of  his  fixed  idea,  and  his  own  limited 
nature,  are  able  completely  to  govern  him. 

Nicholas  Margraf  is  the  son  of  parents  wholly 
opposite  in  character;  his  mother,  a  gentle  and 
amiable  Catholic,  enthusiastic  in  her  love  for  holy 
images  and  pictures  of  the  saints,  while  her  hus- 
band is  cold  and  heartless  ;  a  miser,  wholly  engag- 
ed in  the  avaricious  heaping  up  and  increase  of 
riches,  by  the  gains  of  his  apothecary's  shop,  and 
little  scrupulous  as  to  the  means.  The  fixed  idea 
of  the  son  must  be  nourished  by  the  lavish  use  of 
money  ;  and  this  must  be  obtained  by  making 
diamonds  with  the  chemical  apparatus,  furnished 
by  the  apothecary's  business. 

Richter  begins  his  work  in  the  biographical 
form,  and,  as  usual,  with  the  childhood  and  edu- 
cation of  his  hero.  He  brings  out,  in  rich  profu- 
sion, secret  and  avowed  motives,  and  surrounds 
his  hero  with  characters  of  every  grade  of  humor 
and  folly. 

Jean  Paul  professed  the  artistical  faith,  that  a 


276  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

fictitious  character  will  not  engage  the  sympathies 
of  the  reader,  that  does  not  create  a  moral  interest 
in  spite  of  his  faults  and  weaknesses  ;  he  therefore 
unites  with  his  hero's  limited  faculties,  a  disinter- 
ested desire  to  make  others  happy  ;  and  with  his 
superficial  smattering  of  all  the  sciences,  a  princely 
desire  to  lavish  money.  In  the  course  of  the  work 
Paul  touches  with  exquisite  satire,  most  of  the  fol- 
lies and  vices  of  the  time.  The  vertigoes  of  edu- 
cation and  finance  ;  the  follies  of  gold-seeking  and 
title-seeking,  of  proselyte-making  and  system-mak- 
ing ;  the  coquetry  of  love,  and  the  affectation  of 
the  fine  arts.  And,  in  this  last  great  work,  he 
contended  with  noble  courage,  armed  with  his 
own  weapons,  for  the  political  freedom  of  his 
country,  and  the  object  dearest  to  his  heart,  the 
cause  and  the  freedom  of  the  people. 

In  going  back  to  his  own  childhood  to  describe 
that  of  his  hero,  to  whom  he  gave  the  same  con- 
trasts between  the  destitute  present  and  the  anti- 
cipated splendid  future  ;  the  same  phantasy  for 
changing  stones  into  gold,  that  belonged  to  his 
own,  Jean  Paul  formed  the  resolution  to  unite  his 
own  life  in  a  peculiar  manner  with  that  of  his 
hero ;  and  while  he  parodied  the  poetry  in  that  of 
Nicholas  Margraf,  to  place  the  actual  life  near  it  as 
a  companion.     He  no  doubt  borrowed  the  idea 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  277 

from  Goethe's  Dichiung  und  Wahrheit ;  but  instead 
of  interweaving  them,  as  Goethe  has  done,  the 
truth  from  his  own  hfe  was  placed  near  its  poetry, 
in  the  image  of  another.  In  this  way  only,  can 
the  comic  tone  and  the  apparent  affectation  of 
speaking  in  the  third  person  in  his  Autobiography, 
be  explained  or  excused.  Richter  apparently 
seized  the  idea  of  appending  his  own  biography  to 
a  comic  romance,  as  only  under  a  humorous  form 
could  he  lay  bare  before  the  world,  his  concealed 
emotions,  his  crushing  poverty,  and  the  low  and 
narrow  circumstances  of  his  early  life.  But  he 
seems  soon  to  have  found  that  it  was  far  more 
agreeable  to  idealize  his  own  life  under  the  mask 
of  his  fictitious  heroes,  as  he  had  already  done 
from  Wuz  to  Fibel,  and  thus  reflect  upon  it  a 
poetic  splendor,  that  vanished  as  soon  as  the 
naked  truth  was  opposed  to  the  poetical  illusion  ; 
he  proceeded,  therefore,  only  to  his  thirteenth  year  : 
afterwards,  the  death  of  his  son,  that  rendered  the 
humorous  form  in  which  he  had  begun  it,  dis- 
pleasing to  him,  and  his  succeeding  blindness, 
never  permitted  him  to  resume  it. 

Jean  Paul  had  made  more  extensive  preparation 
for  his  Comet  than  for  any  other  preceding  work. 
The  books  forming  the  Quarry  consisted  of  six- 


218  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

teen  volumes  of  twelve  sheets  each.  It  was  left, 
as  already  mentioned,  incomplete,  although  Ger- 
man critics  pronounce  it  one  of  the  most  artistically 
perfect  of  all  the  author's  works.* 

*  To  give  a  complete  analysis  of  Nicholas  Margraf  would 
require  sheets  instead  of  pages,  and  would  be  quite  beyond  the 
limits  of  this  work. 

In  the  autobiography  the  reader  has  a  specimen  of  Jean  Paul's 
humorous  style  ;  the  extract  from  the  Kampaner  Thai,  in  the 
Appendix,  is  in  his  earnest,  or  what  is  called  his  sentimental 
manner ;  while  his  description  of  his  Curland  Visit,  also  in  the 
Appendix,  is  a  fair  specimen  of  Paul's  usual  manner  of  writing. 


CHAPTER  X. 


RICHTER  VISITS  NURNBURG  ON  ACCOUNT  OF  HIS 
EYES. KANNE. HIS  BLINDNESS. LAST  LET- 
TERS.  "  SELINA." 

Accompanied  by  his  daughter  Emma,  ^  ^  ^^^^ 
once  again  only  did  Richter  leave  home  ^^^^  ^^' 
to  visit  a  celebrated  eye-surgeon  in  Nurnburg. 
An  extract  from  his  letter  to  Caroline  must  suffice. 

"  Nurnburg,  August  30,  1823. 

..."  Yesterday,  at  noon,  I  arrived  here.  In 
Erlangen  I  visited  Schelling,  whose  pleasing  wife 
gave  us  tea.  He  was  full  of  love,  but  cannot 
satisfy  me.^  Wednesday,  I  was  with  Kanne  in 
his  stove-heated  chamber,  on  account  of  his  gout. 
His  is  a  noble,  splendid  physiognomy.  The  outer 
head    has   won,    through    Christianity,  what    the 

^  With  his  philosophical  views. 


280  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

inner  has  lost.  He  received  me  with  heartfelt 
love.'  But  in  the  midst  of  his  cheerfulness  he 
put  out  his  theological  sheeps-ears  against  his 
physician,  thus  —  ^  that  medicine  can  do  no  good 
—  only  help  from  above.'  Of  objections  the  little 
ears  would  hear  nothing.  He  pointed  with  true 
friendly  love  to  my  heart,  and  said  '  he  would  rely 
upon  that  —  that  it  would  he  at  last,'  —  (namely, 
Kannish.)  I  answered,  '  that  with  age  I  removed 
further  from  him.'  He  said,  '  In  the  end  we  shall 
see,'  —  I,  ^  and  beyond  the  end  !  '  We  could  live 
years  happily  together ;  yet,  without  one  moving 
the  smallest  pebble's  weight  of  the  other.  .  .  . 
Next  week  I  shall  end  my  useless  visit  here.  My 
eyes  will  make  journeying  always  an  empty  plea- 
sure, and  the  most  beautiful  days  one  enjoys  better 
at  home.  Here,  there  is,  alas,  no  distinguished 
head  !  Among  the  men,  not  one.  The  last  time  I 
had  Schweigger,  Pfaff,  Hegel.  But  I  knew  all  this 
before,  and  the  ascendency  of  the  merchants,  and 
their  coldness  towards  poetry,  and  philosophy,  and 
the  arts ;  and  the  want  of  elevation  in  the  women, 
that  always  keeps  pace  with  the  others,  and  on 
whose  heads  there  are  rarely  faces  such  as  one 

'  This  was  the  man  for  whom  Richter  obtained  a  situation 
with  the  duke  of  Meiningen,  and  through  whose  theological 
mysticism  Richter's  son  was  sacrificed. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  281 

meets  in  the  Wendelschen  tea  dance  by  the  dozen. 
—  I  found  only  one  beautiful  exception,  and  was, 
on  my  way  home,  under  the  starry  heavens,  a  little 
blessed. 

"  I  knew  all  this  before,  and  therefore  I  remain 
in  the  house,  and  am  glad  when  the  weather  is 
somewhat  bad.  .  .  . 

.  .  .  ''  The  people  here  are  well  meaning  and 
obliging  ;  as  the  bookseller  Eickhorn,  who  makes 
his  servant  mine,  and  my  good  old  Osterhausen, 
who  will  take  me  tomorrow  to  a  pleasure-garden. 
.  .  .  The  common  people  refresh  me  through 
their  orderly  appearance,  and  their  true-hearted- 
ness. 

"  Poor  Hof !  The  flames  shine  always  horribly 
before  me.  If  one  could  dare  to  think  of  himself 
in  such  a  calamity  I  But  one  imagines  the  loss 
can  be  as  important  nowhere,  as  to  himself.  Thus 
I  reflect  that,  for  the  second  time,  all  the  memo- 
rials of  my  youth  are  burnt ;  in  Schwarzenbach  and 
in  Hof,  and  if  I  should  return  there  nothing  is 
left  for  memory  and  reflection,  and  my  youth  has 
a  second  time  passed  away.  We  will  love  each 
other  more  truly,  my  Carohne,  since  life  is  so 
short,  so  full  of  changes,  so  decaying !  I  greet  ye, 
my  dear  children.     Greet  all  thy  friends  warmly." 

Richter  made  no  more  journeys.    His  increasing 


282 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


blindness  rendered  all  the  tender  attentions  of 
home  necessary,  if  not  to  his  cheerfulness,  at  least 
to  his  daily  comfort.  He  consulted  many  cele- 
brated oculists,  tried  glass  after  glass,  and  many 
reputed  healing  remedies ;  but,  although  he  parted 
with  the  light  of  day,  and  his  beloved  occupations 
with  painful  struggles,  and  ever-increasing  regret, 
he  was  obliged  at  last  to  feel  that  the  contest  was 
hopeless,  and  resignation  his  latest  duty. 

Once  again  was  he  separated  from  his  wife, 
which  gave  occasion  to  a  few  more  letters,  the 
last,  except  a  few  notes,  that  he  ever  wrote. 

Caroline  never  left  home,  except  upon  some 
call  of  sorrow  or  duty  ;  namely,  at  the  death  of 
her  father  she  visited  the  widowed  mother,  and 
spent  some  time  in  Berlin  ;  now  she  was  sum- 
moned to  the  dying  bed  of  her  sister  Minna  Spazier, 
who  has  been  often  mentioned  as  supporting  by 
literary  exertions,  her  young  family  in  Dresden. 
From  scattered  hints  it  would  appear  that  Minna 
was  very  unhappy  in  her  second  marriage. 

No  reader  can  have  avoided  noticing  the  singu- 
lar fact,  that  united  as  were  Richter  and  his  wife, 
and  apparently  sympathizing  in  every  agreeable 
emotion,  and  in  every  social  enjoyment,  Caroline 
was  never  the  companion  of  those  little  journeys, 
from  which   Richter   derived   such    elevation    of 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 


283 


spirits,  that  it  would  seem  as  if  the  being  he  loved 
best,  must  have  been  indispensable  to  his  com- 
plete enjoyment.  But  for  this  there  were  many 
reasons.  Their  income  was  never  sufficient  to 
permit  them  to  relax  the  strictest  rules  of  economy 
in  their  expenses ;  and,  although  the  recreation  of 
journeying  was  absolutely  necessary  to  restore  the 
powers  of  the  author,  exhausted  by  intense  appli- 
cation during  ten  months  of  the  year,  Caroline, 
in  her  quiet,  domestic,  feminine  duties,  did  not 
require  the  alleviation  of  novelty  or  pleasure. 

Richter,  also,  in  all  his  journeys,  was  received 
diu6.  feted  as  a  literary  lion,  a  distinguished  author ; 
he  was  patronized  by  people  of  rank  ;  and  invited 
to  the  palaces  of  princes,  not  on  a  footing  of 
equality,  but  as  one  who  was  expected  by  his  wit 
and  celebrity  to  repay  the  condescension  and 
flattery  graciously  bestowed  upon  him.' 

Jean  Paul  had  less  obsequiousness,  and  a  more 
manly  independence  in  his  intercourse  with  princes 
and  nobles  than  any  foreign  author,  with  whose 
works  we  are  acquainted ;  and,  although  it  is  diffi- 
cult for  us  in  the  new  world  to  understand  the 
wide  differences  of  rank  in  the  old  aristocratic 
countries,  we  can  easily  imagine  that  to  a  woman 
of  true  nobility  of  soul,  and  refined  delicate  feel- 
ings,   all    condescending   attentions,    that   implied 

^  See  Appendix. 


284  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

any  inferiority  in  outward  advantages  would  have 
been  painful  and  derogatory. 

From  what  we  can  gather  of  the  character  of 
Caroline,  she  seems  to  have  been  the  guiding  and 
protecting  spirit  of  all  who  came  within  her  influ- 
ence ;  all  her  journeys  were  errands  of  mercy,  all 
her  letters  messages  of  love.  She  had  become, 
like  those  beautiful  plants  that  from  the  centre  of 
the  flower  send  out  protecting  branches,  that  shade 
and  refresh  after  the  blossom  has  fallen. 

In  this  last  separation  Richter  wrote  to  her  thus  : 

'*  Beloved  Caroline :  The  clock-work  of  house- 
keeping goes  and  strikes  accurately,  as  you  have 
wound  it  up.  Emma  does  everything  well,  and 
takes  excellent  care  of  me.  She  is  an  excellent 
Hausmutter  (house-mother).  The  children  are 
good,  and  every  day  give  me  a  new  joy.  I  have 
nothing  to  wish,  but  one  dearer  than  all  the  others 
near  me.  We  speak  longingly  of  thee,  and  I  shall 
rejoice  at  your  return,  as  formerly  at  my  own, 
when  so  heavenly  a  time  always  followed  it." 

Again:  "  Beloved  Caroline  —  Letter-writing  is, 
as  you  know,  extremely  diflicult  on  account  of  the 
gray  paper.  The  sulphur  bath,  for  which  Emma 
takes  punctual  care,  works  excellently,  but  not  im- 
mediately upon  the  eyes ;  but  reading,  and,  still 
more,  writing,  is  impossible,  as  the  light  is  not 
strong  enough. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  285 

"  Ah,  this  melancholy  half  year  of  my  life  !  The 
former  years  of  poverty  and  contempt  were  Sun- 
days in  comparison.  Now,  I  am  deprived  of  so 
much,  and  condemned  to  so  much.  .  .  . 

'^  Enjoy,  at  least  for  thy  sacrificing  days,  a  few 
joyful  hours.  Be  not  too  anxious  for  us  who  are 
sound  at  heart.  Visit  the  terrace  often  at  evening, 
and,  farewell !  farewell  1 

"  Next  day. 

"Your  letter  has  touched  and  refreshed  me, 
dearest !  and  increased  the  longing  for  your  return 
that  I  have  hitherto  concealed.  Exactly  on  the 
morning  that,  the  first  time  for  many  months,  I 
went  to  Rollwenzil's,'  your  heart's  words  delight- 
ed me.  I  must  indeed  suffer  much  —  much!  for 
as  yet  all  means  help  only  a  little,  or  impercepti- 
bly ;  but  I  firmly  believe  God  will  send  me,  even 
in  this  extremity,  only  what  is  best  for  me  ! 

"  For  God's  sake  provide  a  good  opportunity  to 
return.  Venture  upon  no  risks,  but  think  of  the 
poor  children  who  love  thee  so  inexpressibly  I 
Control  yourself,  and  take  no  formal  leave  of 
Minna  —  rather  take  none,  and  tell  her  before 
that  you  must  leave  her,  else  she  will  die  in  your 
arms.     How  do  I  already  rejoice  at  your  relations 

•  The  cottage,  out  of  the  city,  where  Jean  Paul  had  his  study. 


286  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

of  your  Dresden  life.  Come,  only,  soon  !  You 
will  be  received  with  thirsting  love  and  jubilee ! 
Greet  the  sufferer.     Thine  1  r." 

Thus  adjured,  Caroline  was  obhged  to  leave 
the  death-bed  of  her  sister,  and  when  she  returned 
to  her  home  she  found  her  husband  almost  wholly 
deprived  of  the  light.  His  blindness  obliged  him 
to  relinquish  the  hope  of  finishing  Selina,  the  book 
upon  the  immortality  of  the  soul.  So  fondly  had 
he  cherished  the  hope  of  completing  his  proofs  of 
this  highest  consolation  of  humanity,  that  he  seem- 
ed really  to  believe  the  Eternal  Providence  would 
grant  him  time  ;  that  darkness  would  not  fall  upon 
him,  until  he  had  made  it  light  to  others ;  and  in 
this  view  he  withstood  all  indications  of  illness, 
and  repelled  any  anticipations  of  death. 

The  dramatic  interest  of  Selina  is  slight.  The 
characters  of  the  earlier  work,  Camjjaner  Thai, 
are  again  brought  before  the  reader  with  the  beau- 
tiful addition  of  Sdina,  the  daughter  of  Gione,  of 
the  former  work.  The  proofs  of  immortality  are 
drawn  from  the  positive  religious  belief  of  every 
nation,  and  of  all  times  ;  and  Richter  wished  to 
impart  to  them  the  highest  degree  of  completeness 
by  poetic  illustration,  as  well  as  by  arguments  of 
the  deepest  philosophy. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  287 

''  There  are  souls,"  he  says,  ''  for  whom  hfe  has 
no  summer.  These  should  enjoy  the  advantages 
of  the  inhabitants  of  Spitzbergen,  where,  through 
the  winter's  day,  the  stars  shine  clear  as  through 
the  winter's  night.  They  should  have  the  nearest 
compensation  for  their  colder  and  more  distant 
sun."  For  such  persons  the  book  is  written. 
"  Take  from  the  wounded  soul,  lying  on  the  sick- 
bed of  life,  the  prospect  from  above,  and  he  is 
doubly  unhappy,  and  robbed  and  wounded." 

The  divisions  of  the  book  bear  the  names  of 
the  planets ;  and  it  is  said  in  the  preface,  "  as 
Herodotus  gave  the  divisions  of  his  history,  Goethe 
his  Herman  and  Dorothea,  the  names  of  the  Muses, 
so,  on  account  of  the  greater  number  and  the  infe- 
rior value  of  his  chapters,  Jean  Paul  gave  them 
the  names  of  the  eleven  planets.  At  least,  he 
says,  there  is  one  resemblance  in  his  chapters,  of 
which  the  wandering  stars  need  not  be  ashamed, 
''  that  these,  as  themselves,  revolve  around  a  sun 
as  their  centre,  which  has  the  double  name  of  God 
or  Immortality." 

When  Richter  found  his  strength,  as  already 
mentioned,  rapidly  failing,  instead  of  going  on  to 
the  completion  of  the  whole  work,  he  did  what  he 

'  See  Appendix. 


288  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

had  never  done  in  any  former  work,  went  back, 
and  revised  and  improved  the  five  planets,  or  first 
chapters  ;  and  a  few  weeks  before  his  death,  said, 
with  a  deeply  melancholy  tone,  entirely  unusual  to 
him,  ''  that  now  these  chapters  were  ready  for 
printing."  This  was  the  more  remarkable,  as  he 
was  apparently  unconscious  of  the  near  approach 
of  death,  and,  although  he  despaired  of  ever  see- 
ing the  light  again,  he  hoped,  by  the  help  of  an 
amanuensis,  to  complete  the  numerous  works 
already  planned. 

The  last  words  he  ever  penned,  except  a  short 
note  to  Otto,  and  these  with  trenibUng  hand,  the 
hnes  running  into  each  other  and  almost  illegible, 
were  :  '•  Knowing  each  other  again  (in  a  future 
world)  is  the  cardinal  point  of  immortality,  as 
many  paternosters  close  with  a  relic."  "  Life 
departs  not  from  the  soul,  but  vi  the  soul.  It 
lays  its  organic  sceptre  down,  and  dismisses  the 
world  that  had  hitherto  served  it,  or  rather  it 
abandons  its  empire." 

Thus  unfinished,  the  work  was  hidden  from 
Richter's  eyes,  that  yet  lay  so  warmly  at  his  heart 
that  he  wrote  by  the  hand  of  his  wife  to  her 
nephew.  Otto  Spazier,  to  lend  him  his  eyes  and 
pen  for  its  completion.     He  closes  his  letter  thus  : 

"I  expect  a  delightful  life  with   you.     Every 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  289 

morning  till  ten  o'clock  you  shall  be  left  to  your 
own  studies ;  then,  I  shall  request  you  also  to  lend 
me  your  eyes,  if  not  your  hand,  for  the  chaos 
of  my  library.  We  will  read  a  little,  copy  a  little, 
talk  a  little,  be  a  little  joyful,  and  that  is  all  I 

expect  from  you You  cannot  guess  what 

a  balsam  your  arrival  will  be  for  my  wounded 
eyes,  and  for  the  half  of  my  life  crushed  by 
destiny !  "  ' 

"  Such  a  call  from  the  immortal  old  man,  as  it 
entered  my  solitary  apartment,"  says  his  nephew, 
"  filled  me  with  delight.  The  reverend  image  of 
his  beautiful  old  age,  a  just  reward  for  a  holy  life, 
rose  before  me,  and  with  joyful  haste  I  travelled 
through  the  wet  days  of  October,  and  entered  his 
study  on  the  evening  of  the  twenty-fourth  of  that 
month.  The  same  joyful  tremor  affected  me  as 
formerly,  when,  at  the  twilight  hour,  I  had  listened 
here  with  his  family  to  his  voice  of  wisdom.  The 
windows  of  his  room  looked  towards  the  rising 
sun,  and  far  over  the  garden  and  over  scattered 
trees  and  houses,  towards  the  Fichtelgebirge,  that 
bounded  the  horizon.  A  mingled  perfume  of 
flowers  and  grapes  led  the  fancy  to  southern 
climes,  to  beautiful  blue  June  days,  or  to  the  vint- 
age on  the  Rhine.     His  sofa,  where  he  usually 

*  Jean  Paul  refers  to  the  death  of  his  son. 
TOL.  II.  19 


290  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

read  in  a  reclining  posture,  was  opposite  this  win- 
dow, and  before  it  his  writing  table,  upon  which 
appeared  ^  regular  confusion  of  pens,  paper  of  all 
colors,  glasses,  flowers,  books,  among  which  last 
were  the  small  English  editions  of  Swift  and 
Sterne.  At  the  other  window  stood  a  small  piano, 
and  near  this  a  smaller  table.  Depending  from 
the  cage  of  his  birds  was  a  little  ladder,  that  led  to 
his  own  work-table,  where  the  birds  were  permit- 
ted to  roam  among  the  confusion,  sprinkling  with 
water  from  the  flower  glass  the  sheet  upon  which 
the  poet  was  writing.  Often  was  Paul  seen  to 
stop  in  his  most  excited  passages,  to  let  his  little 
canary,  with  her  young,  travel,  undisturbed,  over 
the  page,  where  the  water  she  scattered  from  her 
feathers  mingled  with  the  ink  from  his  pen.  In 
the  corner  of  the  room  was  a  door  by  which,  unob- 
served, Richter  could  descend  the  steps  into  the 
garden,  and  on  a  cushion  near  it  rested  his  white, 
silky-haired  poodle.  A  hunting  pocket  and  rose- 
wood staff*  hung  near.  All  three  had  often  been 
the  companions  of  his  wanderings,  when,  on  beau- 
tiful days,  he  went  through  the  chestnut  avenue, 
to  the  little  Rolwenzell  cottage. 

All  in  the  room  retained  its  usual  position,  but 
the  ruling  hand  appeared  to  have  been  absent. 
The  light  was  shaded,  and  the  windows  hung  with 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  291 

green  curtains ;  the  robust  form  that  in  former 
years,  even  before  the  snow  drop  had  loosened  the 
icy  crust  of  winter,  had  worked  long  hours,  with 
uncovered  breast  in  the  open  air,  lay  supported 
with  cushions,  and  shrouded  in  furs  upon  the  sofa  ; 
his  body  drawn  together,  and  eyes  forever  closed. 
"  Heaven,"  said  he,  "  chastens  me  with  a  double 
rod,  and  one  is  a  heavy  cudgel !  (meaning  his 
blindness  ;)  but  I  shall  be  well  again  now.  Ah  ! 
we  have  so  much  to  say  and  to  do.  But  we  shall 
have  a  thousand  hours  —  at  least,  minutes."  His 
voice  was  weaker,  his  words  slower,  and  it  cut  me 
to  the  heart  to  hear  him  speak  of  himself.  It  was 
late  —  and  soon  his  wife,  ever  watchful,  called  me 
away,  to  return  to  him  again  in  the  morning." 

Early  the  next  morning  he  began  a  complete  re- 
vision of  his  works.  The  nephew  read  aloud,  and 
Paul  inserted  his  alterations.  When  Spazier  thought 
one  necessary,  he  indicated  it  by  pausing,  to  draw 
his  attention.  With  great  mildness  and  patience 
Paul  listened  to  every  objection  ;  and  himself  re- 
lated, explained,  praised,  and  blamed.  He  recon- 
sidered and  overlived  thus  his  whole  spiritual 
life  in  his  works.  In  the  comparisons  scattered 
through  his  sixty-four  volumes,  of  which  indeed 
every  page  is  filled,  he  found  only  two  or  three 
were  repeated. 


292  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

The  arrival  of  his  nephew,  and  the  hope  of  com- 
pleting Selina,  and  the  revision  of  the  new  edition 
of  his  works,  gave  new  life  to  Richter.  Great 
indeed  was  his  joy,  as  they  were  read  to  him,  that 
he  could  assert,  that  he  had  never  written  a  line 
against  virtue,  or  one,  that  for  this  reason,  he  could 
wish  to  blot.  But  he  soon  began  to  perfect  rather 
those  that  he  considered  unfinished,  than  to  con- 
tinue his  new  works ;  and  we  must  ever  regret 
that  he  left  his  Autobiography  unfinished  ;  that  he 
went  home  before  he  had  given  us  this  golden 
key  to  his  works ;  the  psychological  unfolding  of 
his  poetic  nature ;  the  impression  that  the  ever- 
changing  scenes  of  life  and  literature  had  made 
upon  him  since  his  childhood.  This  he  intended 
to  make  a  memorial  of  gratitude  to  those  great 
men,  Gleim,  Herder,  and  Jacobi,  to  whom  he  felt 
himself  so  much  indebted.  He  had  already  spoken 
earnestly  of  his  eternal  gratitude  to  Gleim,  for  the 
timely  present  of  fifty  dollars  ;  and  he  intended  to 
give  a  full-length  picture  of  the  princely  form  of 
Herder,  and  to  illustrate  his  character  with  beams  of 
light.  But  alas,  it  was  now  too  late.  His  weakness 
increased  so  rapidly  that  he  was  obliged  to  resign, 
but  with  all  possible  submission,  the  design  of  con- 
tinuing any  of  his  works.  He  withdrew  from  all 
self-activity,  and  gave  up  the  pleasure  of  speaking 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  293 

of  subjects,  that  in  his  circumstances,  would  have 
had  only  an  egotistical  interest,  and  devoted  him- 
self for  the  short  remainder  of  life,  to  the  happi- 
ness of  those  about  him.  The  long,  dark  days  of 
November  were  cheered  by  reading.  The  books 
that  until  the  last  he  delighted  most  to  listen  to, 
were  Herbarfs  Psychology  and  Herder^s  Philoso- 
phy of  the  History  of  Man.  When  wearied  of 
these,  he  desired  to  smile  at  some  humorous  work, 
and  his  nephew  laments  that  German  literature  is 
so  poor  in  books  of  this  kind. 

At  this  moment  rose  higher  than  ever  within 
our  Richter  the  apostle  John's  power  of  love. 
Age  often  serves  the  heart  as  it  does  the  outward 
form,  takes  from  it  the  fullness  and  tenderness  of 
sympathy,  and  leaves  it  hard,  and  sharply  angular ; 
but  in  the  heart  of  Jean  Paul  love  was  a  plant  that 
found  ever  a  richer  and  a  warmer  soil,  disclosed 
continually  new  buds  and  blossoms,  spread  its 
roots  and  fibres  always  further,  and  extended,  in 
his  last  days,  the  perfumed  shadow,  that  gave  him 
peace  and  blessed  dreams. 

He  sat,  as  Spazier  describes  him,^  Hke  an  inno- 
cent, tranquil  child,  with  the  firmest  confidence  in 

*  The  narrative  from  which  I  have  taken  that  of  the  last  days 
of  Jean  Paul,  is  so  extremely  inflated  and  diffuse,  that  the  wish 
to  avoid  the  same,  has  perhaps  led  me  to  the  opposite  error. 


294  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

God  and  in  future  good,  although  the  present  was 
sinking  around  him.  His  own  pain  only  increased 
his  interest  in  the  joys  of  others.  His  weakness, 
that  denied  him  acts  of  love,  impelled  him  to  ex- 
press more  fully  the  language  of  affection,  that  had 
been  till  now  concealed  in  actions.  The  friends 
who  visited  him  never  heard  a  complaint  over  his 
blindness ;  but  to  anxious  questioning  he  answered 
with  low,  but  cheerful,  hopeful,  signification.  When 
others,  thinking  to  conceal  from  his  situation,  spoke 
of  hopes  and  joys  for  the  future,  he  drew  them 
immediately  to  subjects  of  more  universal  interest. 
Self-forgetting,  he  would  speak  to  his  visiters  of 
any  other  subject.  As  this  was  the  time  of  the 
so-called,  freedom's  contest  in  Germany ;  deeply  as 
his  true  German  heart  had  been  directed  to  the 
interests  of,  freedom,  now  its  beams  spread  a  glow 
in  his  evening  sky. 

As  his  eyes  were  extinguished,  and  expression 
denied  him  through  this  organ,  he  sought,  by  a 
more  tender  tone  of  voice,  to  draw  others  to  his 
heart,  and  when  his  voice  also  failed,  love  pervaded 
the  whole  expression  of  his  countenance.  His 
cheerfulness  was  much  increased  when  one  or  two 
friends  were  added  to  his  domestic  circle.  Otto, 
or  Emanuel  came  almost  every  evening.  They 
clustered  around  his  sofa,  and  here,  like  an  electric 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  295 

spark,  he  kindled  all  about  him.  Every  new 
thought  received  from  him  organization,  and  he 
ever  suggested  something  new  ;  his  picture-lan- 
guage never  wearied  ;  and  the  departure  of  his 
friends  was  always  too  early.  One  evening  the 
conversation  turned  upon  the  sense  of  smell,  and 
Richter  mentioned  how  strongly  the  recollection 
of  perfumes  excited  the  imagination.  He  said 
"  that  his  father,  sometimes,  in  his  boyhood,  shut 
him  into  his  room,  and  that  when  he  went  again 
into  the  open  air  he  met  the  fumes  of  the  tobacco 
the  carpenters  smoked,  and  that  tobacco  now 
brought  back,  like  the  sound  of  the  cowbell,  his 
whole  childhood  before  his  soul.  Through  the 
sense  of  smell,  as  its  impressions  are  so  undecided, 
the  romantic  is  singularly  excited.  Schiller  always 
rejoiced  in  perfumes,  while  Goethe,  the  plastic 
artist,  was  more  interested  by  the  form  of  the 
nose.  Smell  is  the  most  refined  of  the  senses.  A 
gentle  and  refined  Indian  would  think  us  all  offen- 
sive animals.  Herder  had  the  most  delicate  sense 
of  smell,  but  in  every  thing  he  was  an  elephant J^ 
With  this  one  word  Richter  delineated  Herder's 
greatness,  his  delicate  organization,  which  also  dis- 
tinguishes the  elephant  among  animals,  and  his 
Indian  nature. 

In  the  last  weeks  of  his  life  he  could  take  a  less 


296  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

active  part  in  the  conversation,  on  account  of  the 
weakness  of  his  voice.  For  this  he  often  touch- 
ingly  asked  pardon ;  and  Carohne  sat  with,  her 
ear  close  to  him,  to  interpret  to  those  less  accus- 
tomed to  his  accents. 

Eight  days  before  his  death  the  darkest  night 
settled  upon  him.  Even  then  he  sat  patiently, 
trusting  the  coming  spring  would  bring  again  for 
him,  the  warm  sun,  and  the  blue  heaven,  and  the 
eternal  stars.  Many  times  he  raised  his  darkened 
eyes  to  the  window,  hoping  a  faint  ray  would 
pierce  the  gloom ;  once  only  his  pain  broke  out  in 
words,  as  his  friends  were  lamenting  the  helpless- 
ness of  his  situation,  that  prevented  him  from 
seeking  relief  for  his  other  infirmities.  The  thought 
for  a  moment  overpowered  him,  and  in  the  most 
touching  voice  he  cried  out  with  Ajax  in  the  Iliad, 

"  Light  I  light  only,  then  may  the  enemy  come  !  " 

The  extraordinary  talent  for  music  that  Richter 
possessed  has  often  been  mentioned.  When  weary 
with  thought,  he  would  seat  himself  at  the  instru- 
ment, and  with  an  accompaniment  on  the  keys 
with  one  hand,  he  would  translate  with  the  other 
the  emotions  that  filled  his  mind.  When  they 
were  tender,  he  as  well  as  all  who  heard  him, 
would    break  out    in   tears,  till   all   hearts   were 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  297 

melted.  The  music  of  others  also  affected  him 
deeply,  and  once  in  a  large  party  he  could  not 
restrain  his  tears,  when  Mignon^s  song  was  sung 
by  a  young  lady. 

In  the  evening,  during  this  last  dark  period, 
when  the  day  had  exhausted  him,  he  longed  for 
the  refreshment  of  music ;  but  the  voices  of  his 
children  overpowered  him,  and  his  father's  heart 
wept  at  their  simplest  tones  ;  but  when  in  the 
next  apartment  the  sounds  appeared  to  come  from 
a  distance,  he  could  listen  to  the  voices  that  he 
loved.  Then  he  would  turn  his  face  towards  the 
wall,  and  earth  and  sorrow  were  forgotten ;  while 
he  flew  with  the  sounds  to  fairer  climes,  and  flow- 
ers, and  mountains  and  beautiful  forms.  When 
his  family  returned,  they  would  find  him  sitting 
upright  on  the  sofa,  and  in  his  face  were  the 
traces  of  emotion,  that  his  darkened  eyes  could  no 
longer  express. 

Schubart's  splendid  composition  of  the  Earl 
King,  ''  Thou  dear  child !  come,  go  with  me," 
Zelter's  song  of  the  Harper  in  Meister,  and  the 
many-voiced  little  song  of  the  people,  ''  So  many 
stars  are  in  the  sky,"  and  many  of  Goethe's  songs 
lulled  him  so  blessedly,  that  they  seemed  to  exert 
a  wonderful  physical  power  on  his  well-being. 
One  evening  he  said  it  was  as  if,  during  the  sing- 


298  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ing,  some  one  had  drawn  over  him  a  soft  and 
warm  mantle,  and  when  the  sounds  ceased,  he 
wondered  to  find  no  covering  upon  him.  He  was 
deeply  moved  one  evening,  when  a  young  girl 
sung  a  Spanish  song  before  his  door,  accompanied 
by  the  guitar.  It  brought  the  south  into  his 
winter  apartment,  and  excited  and  warmed  his 
fancy. 

Richter  went  every  morning  to  his  study,  and 
continued  revising  with  his  nephew  the  new  edi- 
tion of  his  works,  until  from  weakness  of  the 
breast  his  voice  could  no  longer  be  heard.  The 
soul  seemed  to  have  withdrawn  from  all  the  exter- 
nal organs,  and  to  communicate  with  the  outward 
world  only  through  the  ear  ;  the  eye  was  turned 
inward  upon  the  soul,  and  his  biographer  says, 
"  The  volume  of  the  noble  brow  seemed  to  expand 
still  more,  as  if  thought  sat  visibly  upon  it ;  the 
outline  of  the  delicate  nose  became  more  beauti- 
ful, and  around  the  firmly  closed  mouth  the  most 
amiable  mildness  played.  That  which  has  come 
to  us  from  tradition,  of  the  bust  of  Plato  ;  what 
the  saints  have  told  us  of  the  expression  of  the 
holy  Christ,  hovered  upon  his  face.  Deprived  of 
the  veil  of  human  senses,  with  which  the  earth 
protects  the  dwelling-place  of  thought,  the  beauti- 
ful form  spoke  only  of  the  spirit,  and  of  immortal- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  299 

ity  ;  a  tremor  of  reverence  filled  the  heart  of  the 
spectator,  and  unconsciously,  the  hands  were  fold- 
ed as  if  in  prayer ;  every  one  who  entered  spoke 
softly,  as  if  in  the  presence  of  a  holy  being." 

On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth  of  November, 
when  his  nephew  came  down,  Richter  for  the  first 
time  was  absent  from  his  study.  Spazier  found 
him  in  the  apartment  of  his  wife,  and,  although 
early.  Otto  and  his  physician  were  with  them. 
Caroline  sat  with  her  ear  close  to  the  mouth  of  her 
husband,  for  she  only  could  now  understand  the 
well-known,  but  imperfect  accents.  He  said 
"  good  morning,"  when  his  nephew  entered,  for 
his  hearing  was  still  acute. 

Through  the  perpetual  night  about  him,  and  the 
irregularity  of  his  repose,  Richter  had  lost  the  con- 
sciousness of  the  course  of  time,  and  thought  it 
was  already  evening.  He  was  confirmed  in  this 
impression  by  the  presence  of  the  physician,  who 
usually  made  his  visit  in  the  evening,  and  not  to 
make  him  more  uneasy  they  humored  the  error, 
and  did  not  try  to  undeceive  him. 

His  nephew  read  the  newspaper  to  him,  and 
some  passages  from  Herder's  spiritual  works  ;  but 
he  seemed  this  day  to  thirst  more  than  ever  for  the 
voices  of  his  wife  and  children ;  his  youngest 
daughter  climbed  perpetually  on  the  back  of  his 


300  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

chair,  and  held  her  youthful  face  close  to  his. 
The  son  of  Herder  came  in  ;  and  it  so  happened, 
that  just  at  this  time  the  transfer  of  the  princess  of 
Lucca  took  place  in  Bayreuth.  The  incident  was 
more  noticed,  because  it  was  to  the  same  Saxon 
prince  Max,  the  transfer  of  whose  first  wife,  also 
an  Italian  princess,  Jean  Paul  had  described  in 
Hesperus.  So  remarkable  a  coincidence  could 
not  escape  a  poet,  who  professed,  as  Richter,  to 
believe  in  the  duality  of  all  things.  Young  Her- 
der told  him,  that  the  Bust  of  the  prince,  as  the 
Portrait  in  Hesperus,  accompanied  the  princess, 
borne  in  a  sedan  chair,  and  what  appears  infinitely 
comic,  dined  and  reposed  wherever  the  princess 
rested.  This  led  the  conversation  to  Hesperus, 
and  Richter  whispered  many  alterations  he  intend- 
ed to  make  in  that  work ;  and  said  it  had  failed 
totally  of  the  object  he  wished  to  accomplish  in 
writing  it. 

Noon  had  by  this  time  arrived.  Richter,  think- 
ing it  was  night,  said,  '*  It  was  time  to  go  to  rest !  " 
and  wished  to  retire.  He  was  wheeled  into  his 
sleeping  apartment,  and  all  was  arranged  as  if  for 
repose  ;  a  small  table  near  his  bed,  with  a  glass  of 
water,  and  his  two  watches  ;  a  common  one  and  a 
repeater.  His  wife  now  brought  him  a  wreath  of 
flowers   that  a  lady   had   sent  him,  for  every  one 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  301 

wished  to  add  some  charm  to  his  last  days.  As  he 
touched  them  carefully,  for  he  could  neither  see 
nor  smell  them,  he  seemed  to  rejoice  in  the  images 
of  the  flowers  in  his  mind,  for  he  said  repeatedly 
to  Caroline,  "  My  beautiful  flowers,  my  lovely 
flowers ! " 

Although  his  friends  sat  around  the  bed,  as  he 
imagined  it  was  night,  they  conversed  no  longer  ; 
he  arranged  his  arms  as  if  preparing  for  repose, 
which  was  to  be  to  him  the  repose  of  death,  and 
soon  sank  into  a  tranquil  sleep. 

Deep  silence  pervaded  the  apartment.  Caro- 
line sat  at  the  head  of  the  bed,  with  her  eyes  im- 
movably fixed  on  the  face  of  her  beloved  husband* 
Otto  had  retired,  and  the  nephew  sat  with  Plato's 
Phcedon  in  his  hand,  open  at  the  death  of  Socrates. 
At  that  moment  a  tall  and  beautiful  form  entered 
the  chamber ;  and,  at  the  foot  of  the  bed,  with  his 
hands  raised  to  heaven  and  deeply  moved,  he  re- 
peated aloud  the  prayer  of  his  Mosaic  faith.  It 
was  Emanuel,  and  next  to  Otto,  the  most  beloved 
of  Richter's  friends. 

About  six  o'clock  the  physician  entered.  Rich- 
ter  yet  appeared  to  sleep  ;  his  features  became 
every  moment  holier,  his  brow  more  heavenly,  but 
it  was  cold  as  marble   to  the  touch  ;  and  as  the 


302  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

tears  of  his  wife  fell  upon  it,  he  remained  immov- 
able. At  length  his  respiration  became  less  regu- 
lar, but  his  features  always  calmer,  more  heavenly. 
A  slight  convulsion  passed  over  the  face  ;  the  phy- 
sician cried  out,  "  that  is  death !  "  and  all  was 
quiet.     The  spirit  had  departed  ! 

All  sank,  praying,  upon  their  knees.  This  mo- 
ment, that  raised  them  above  the  earth  with  the 
departing  spirit,  admitted  of  no  tears  ! 

''  Thus  Richter  went  from  earth,  great  and  holy 
as  a  poet,  greater  and  holier  as  a  man  !  *' 

Involuntarily  we  recall  the  death-bed  of  another 
great  poet,  on  that  delicious  summer's  day  when 
the  windows  were  all  open,  and  the  only  sound 
the  ripple  of  the  Tweed  upon  its  stony  bed.  Here, 
in  the  midst  of  winter,  a  deeper  repose  must  have 
consecrated  the  death-bed  of  Richter,  as  if  Nature 
herself  stood  reverently  still,  when  her  worshiper 
and  interpreter  laid  down  the  garment  in  which 
he  had  ministered  in  her  temple. 

Richter  was  buried  by  torch-light :  the  unfin- 
ished manuscript  of  SeUna  borne  upon  his  coffin, 
and  the  noble  ode  of  Klopstock,  — 

"  Thou  shalt  arise,  my  Soul  !  " 

sung  by  the  students  of  the  Gymnasium  at  the 
burial  vault. 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  303 

Otto  could  not  survive  his  loss.  He  lived  only 
a  few  months,  in  order  to  arrange  the  unfinished 
sheets  of  Selina  ;  and  then,  in  secret  mourning, 
followed  the  departed  friend. 


CONCLUSION. 


I  HAVE  now  finished  my  task,  and  I  might  safely 
leave  the  biography  of  Richter  to  make  its  impres- 
sion upon  the  reader  without  one  word  of  com- 
mentary ;  but  like  Otto,  I  linger  by  the  tomb  of 
my  friend,  unwilling  to  part  with  him  who  has 
been  my  companion  so  long. 

I  have  not  the  presumption  to  imagine  that  I 
can  enlighten  those  who  have  had  opportunities  to 
study  the  works  of  Jean  Paul,  from  which  alone 
his  character  can  be  appreciated ;  but  in  this 
country  it  has  been  the  custom  to  contrast  him 
with  Goethe,  and  to  class  them,  as  belonging  to 
opposite  schools  in  literature.  They  are,  indeed, 
widely  different,  but  the  one  need  not  blind  us  to 
the  excellence  of  the  other.  They  were  widely 
different  in  their  lives.  Goethe  grew  up  in  a 
happy  home,  where  the  genial  disposition  of  his 
mother,  who  used  playfully  to  say,  ''  her  Wolfgang 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  305 

and  herself  were  of  the  same  age,"  (in  fact,  he  was 
born  in  her  seventeenth  year,)  led  him  to  enjoy 
every  natural  good,  every  innocent  pleasure  ;  while 
Jean  Paul,  born  in  poverty,  brought  up  in  almost 
ascetic  frugality,  tended  by  a  mother  so  sorrow- 
bowed,  so  fearful  of  joy  that  she  could  not  even 
understand  her  gifted  son's  fame  ;  living  in  an  ob- 
scure village  with  few  associates,  and  none  supe- 
rior to  himself,  so  that  he  could  form  no  impartial 
and  accurate  estimation  of  himself,  differed  in  this, 
as  in  every  other  respect  from  Goethe.  Goethe 
stood  upon  an  elevation  above  his  fellows,  attained 
by  what  the  Germans  call  universality,  the  power  of 
observing  all  the  bearings  and  points  of  the  times, 
from  an  elevation  far  above  them  all. 

The  difference  between  Goethe  and  Richter  is 
not  more  striking  than  the  anomaly  in  the  charac- 
ter of  each,  and  the  discrepancy  between  that 
character  and  their  works.  Goethe,  whose  clas- 
sical culture  would  not  allow  him  to  violate  the 
unities,  whose  polished  exterior  gave  him  the  ap- 
pearance of  a  Grecian  god,  in  private  life  per- 
mitted himself  much  license,  and  of  his  associates 
would  cry  out,  "  oh,  that  they  had  the  heart  to 
commit  some  absurdity ; "  while  Jean  Paul,  in 
his  works  so  wild  and  luxuriant,  that  he  might  be 

VOL.  II.  20 


306  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

compared  to  a  great,  gnarled  oak,  making  grand 
music  in  its  branches  as  they  stretched  towards 
heaven,  while  the  httle  singing  birds  nestled  in  its 
leaves  ;  in  private  life  hedged  himself  round  with 
rules  and  resolutions,  and  all  the  safeguards  of 
order  and  form.  His  journals  are  filled  with  reit- 
erated regulations,  and  expressions  of  repentant 
sorrow  whenever  he  violated  the  least  of  them. 
It  was  safe  for  Goethe  to  allow  himself  the  seduc- 
tions of  social  and  polished  hfe ;  but  Richter, 
whose  great  and  irregular  nature  was  always 
breaking  through  the  polished  border  of  conven- 
tionalism, planted  himself  around  with  the  thorny 
hedge  of  minute  observances.  Goethe  needed  no 
rules,  no  restraints ;  he  was  in  no  danger  of  the 
discourteous  developments  of  a  generous  man- 
hood ;  his  nature  was  polished  to  elegance.  If 
he  ever  struggled,  ''  the  graces,^'  as  Bettine  said, 
"  kept  him  prisoner." 

He  needed  no  reiterated  hints  in  his  journal,  to 
do  everything  in  its  season,  and  keep  everything  in 
its  place  ;  the  clockwork  of  his  nciture  went  nei- 
ther too  fast  nor  too  slow,  and  stru(,k  the  hour  at 
the  exact  second,  while  the  virtue  of  neatness  was 
in  him  almost  sublime. 

Richter's  life  may  be  divided  into  three  epochs, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  307 

and  his  works  into  three  corresponding  divisions. 
The  first,  that  of  pure  satire,  terminated  with  the 
writing  of  the  "  Contented  Schoobnaster." 

The  infancy  and  early  youth  of  Richter  alone 
were  genial  and  poetical.  From  his  entrance  into 
the  Hof  gymnasium,  through  his  Leipzig  life,  he 
was  strugghng  with  actual  want,  and  opposing  an 
iron  resolution  to  an  adverse  destiny.  At  this 
time  a  cold  skepticism  shrouded  his  mind  ;  he  had 
not  broken  the  crust  of  that  merely  intellectual 
period  of  his  life,  when  the  buds  of  his  fancy  and 
all  the  warm  springs  of  his  heart  were  imprisoned 
by  the  ice  of  an  ungenial  belief.  At  this  time, 
his  French  and  English  studies  led  him  to  Pope, 
Shaftesbury,  Swift,  Rabelais,  and  the  encyclope- 
daeists.  He  wrote  only  satires.  To  give  interest 
to  these  essays,  that  were  without  all  poetical  or 
dramatic  charm,  he  acquired  his  peculiar  manner 
of  writing,  crowded  his  page  with  figures,  compari- 
sons and  antithesis  ;  ransacked  heaven  and  hell, 
and  all  the  regions  of  earth  for  illustrations,  anec- 
dotes, proverbs,  and  quaint  expressions,  and  ac- 
quired what  Carlyle  has  called  his  claptrap  man- 
ner. This  manner  was  foreign  and  artificial,  for 
his  private  journal,  written  at  this  period,  is  free 
from  everything  of  the  kind.  This  manner  of 
writing  became  a  second  nature  ;    he  says  himself, 


308  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

he  could  not  help  it,  "  that  his  figures  and  illus- 
trations were  like  mice  let  out  of  a  trap,  one  caught 
hold  of  the  tail  of  the  other  in  interminable  suc- 
cession." 

The  usual  theme  of  Richter's  satires  is  the  con- 
trast of  the  infinite  in  man's  breast  with  the  low 
and  narrow  circumstances  in  which  he  is  placed, 
and  in  this  early  period  it  is  treated  with  the  bitter 
and  cutting  coldness  of  a  sarcastic  laugh. 

But  his  soul  was  soon  unsatisfied.  He  began 
to  long  after  his  inheritance.  He  could  no  longer 
quiet  his  thirst  after  a  higher  good  with  a  scornful 
laugh.  We  find  in  his  journal  that,  '-he  laid 
long  hours  in  the  night  upon  the  dewy  grass,  and 
longed  to  allay  the  thirst  of  his  soul  by  looking 
into  the  starry  heavens.  When  he  arose  and  saw 
the  impression  his  body  had  made  upon  the  grass, 
he  thought  of  his  grave,  and  the  flowers  thus 
pressed  together  ;  the  terror  of  annihilation  seized 
him  with  iron  hand.  Then  came  the  warm  beams 
of  the  arisen  sun  ;  and  the  blessed  thought  of  God, 
and  his  love  to  man,  that  would  burst  the  gate  of 
the  grave ;  and  his  sunken  heart  rose  again." 

Such  moments  sometimes  occur  in  life,  when  a 
strong  and  powerful  emotion  has  the  effect  of  the 
most  startling  events.  We  know  not  whether 
Richter  meant  to  represent  this  moment  as  a  turn- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  309 

ing  from  darkness  to  light ;  but  the  death  of  his 
two  youthful  friends,  that  occurred  at  this  period, 
fixed  his  thoughts  upon  immortality,  and  a  strenu- 
ous exertion  freed  his  soul  from  its  fetters.  Now, 
he  turned  back  in  imagination  to  his  childhood  in 
Joditz  and  Schwarzenbach,  and  it  appeared  in  the 
ever-increasing  light  of  poetry ;  the  perfume  of 
his  childish  faith  and  early  education,  w^as  again 
breathed  into  his  life.  Now,  his  heart  began  to 
overflow  with  emotion,  and  bitter  pain  at  a  misdi- 
rection of  his  talents,  that  had  deprived  his  youth 
of  elevation  and  spiritual  joy.  He  had  no  longer 
before  his  mind,  the  cold  conception  of  the  folhes 
of  fools  and  simpletons,  but  also  the  disappoint- 
ments and  fond  longings  of  the  suffering  and  good. 
How  significant  is  this  passage  in  his  journal  of 
November,  in  this  year.  "  And  you,  my  brothers, 
I  will  love  more,  I  will  create  for  you  more  joy. 
I  will  give  up  my  greater  plans,  and  limit  my 
endeavors,  to  make  you  cheerful,  and  turn  my 
comic  powers  no  longer,  as  hitherto,  to  torment 
you.  I  will  use  my  art  to  make  myself  cheerful, 
to  content  myself  with  every  necessary  limitation  ; 
and  thus  to  win  joy  for  you.  I  will  make  you 
happy  by  imparting  what  I  have  hitherto  gained. 
Fantasy  and  wit  shall  be  united  to  find  consola- 
tion, cheerfulness  and  joys  in  the  most  Hmited  of 


310  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

life's  relations."  The  result  of  this  holy  purpose 
of  his  life,  were  the  works,  beginning  with  Wuz, 
and  ending  only  with  the  Selina.  Few  have  been 
like  him,  faithful  to  a  great  idea.  He  had,  as 
we  have  seen,  consecrated  himself  to  instructing 
his  countrymen  through  the  press,  and  no  office, 
no  emolument,  no  honor  seduced  him.  In  his 
cold  and  hungry  hut,  in  his  humble  school,  he 
wrought  out,  in  patience  and  solitude,  the  gems 
that  he  afterwards  joyfully  produced.  He  sur- 
rendered his  soul  to  God,  and  his  life  became  in 
harmony  with  the  true,  the  beautiful,  the  good. 

The  very  limited  relations  in  which  Richter 
stood  with  others,  the  poverty  of  incidents  in  his 
life,  the  few  characters  he  knew,  the  small  number 
from  which  he  could  choose  his  hero,  compelled 
him  to  go  back  to  his  early  recollections ;  and  his 
memory  and  fantasy  supplied  him  with  a  model 
that  answered  to  the  wants  of  his  soul,  that  in 
poetry,  as  in  Hfe  now,  thirsted  for  love.  Wuz  is 
the  embryo  of  a  whole  succession  of  such  charac- 
ters appearing  in  Jean  Paul's  after  romances.  He 
is  the  first  result  of  the  author's  creative  imagina- 
tion, and  the  transition  from  his  satirical  to  his 
serious,  earnest  works.  In  this  conception  is  first 
apparent  the  so  much  talked-of  double  nature  of 
Richter,    the    contradiction,  the   contest   of  form 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  311 

with  tendency.  Richter  had  not  in  the  beginning 
of  his  change  the  courage  to  manifest  his  feehngs 
and  emotions.  He  was  ashamed  to  open  his  heart 
to  the  pubhc  ;  he  is,  therefore,  in  this  work,  through 
ridiculous  folhes  in  Wuz,  constantly  interrupting 
the  earnest  impression  of  the  work.  But  although 
he  had  freed  by  this  exertion,  his  earnest  creative 
power  from  the  mastery  of  the  comic  and  familiar, 
the  process  took  place  too  late  for  the  comic  ever 
to  be  entirely  subjected.  The  contest  continued 
through  all  his  serious  works,  and  takes  the  form 
in  them  of  the  most  genial  humor.  He  compares 
this  tendency  of  his  nature  to  the  bird  Merops, 
whose  tail  is  turned  towards  heaven,  but  in  this 
direction  continues  to  rise. 

The  second  peculiarity  of  Wuz,  which  is  more 
or  less  that  of  all  Richter's  serious  works,  is,  that 
he  lends  to  the  character  the  peculiarities  of  his 
own  childhood.  Hence,  for  the  first  time,  his 
father  and  himself,  and  all  the  idyls  of  village  hfe, 
appear  in  the  borrowed  light  of  poetry.  As  they 
pass  before  him  he  gives  them  individuality,  and 
the  coloring  of  reality.  It  seemed  only  necessary 
for  him  to  touch  his  native  ground,  the  home  of 
his  childhood,  and  from  them  he  immediately 
received  inspiration. 

The  contest,  as  I  have  said  above,  of  the  serious 


312  LIFE  OF  JEAN  PAUL. 

and  humorous,  never  ceased.  Humor  was  often, 
even  in  his  most  serious  works,  the  quahty  that 
ruled  his  nature  ;  the  product  not  now  of  con- 
tempt, but  of  love  ;  springing  from  the  heart,  as 
much  as  from  the  imagination,  and  pouring  the 
balm  of  a  sympathizing  spirit  over  the  wounds  of 
humanity.  If  I  mistake  not,  Richter's  humor  is 
the  quality  that  has  made  him  so  beloved  by  the 
Germans.  Its  origin  is  a  true  sensibility  to  the 
discrepancies  and  contrasts  of  life,  and  a  quick 
perception  of  the  alleviations,  which  his  rare  gifts 
enabled  him  to  present,  with  a  simple  and  touch- 
ing pathos. 

In  his  preface  to  Quintus  Fixlien,  which  is  an 
enlarged  repetition  of  Wuz,  he  tells  us  the  purpose 
for  which  he  writes.  "  That  I  may  show  to  the 
whole  earth,  that  we  ought  to  value  little  joys 
more  than  great  ones ;  the  night-gown  more  than  the 
dress  coat ;  that  Plutus's  heaps  are  worth  less  than 
his  handfuls ;  the  plum  than  the  penny  for  a  rainy 
day  ;  and  that  not  great,  but  little  good-haps  can 
make  us  happy.  Can  I  accomplish  this,  I  shall, 
through  means  of  my  book,  bring  up  for  posterity 
a  race  of  men  finding  refreshment  in  all  things  ; 
in  the  warmth  of  their  rooms,  and  of  their  night 
caps  ;  in  their  pillows,  in  mere  apostle's  days,  in 
the  evening  moral  tales  of  their  wives,  (Slc.     You 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  313 

perceive  my  drift  is,  that  man  may  become  a  little 
tailorbird,  which,  not  amidst  the  crashing  boughs 
of  the  storm-tost,  roaring,  immeasurable  tree  of 
life,  but  upon  one  of  its  leaves,  sews  itself  a 
nest  together,  and  there  lies  snug."  ' 

The  whole  of  this  preface,  with  its  quaint  illus- 
trations, is  an  exquisite  essay  upon  contentment, 
and  w^orth  all  the  philosophy  and  all  the  sermons 
that  ever  were  written  on  the  art  of  being  happy. 

In  the  succession  of  works  that  followed  this, 
Jean  Paul's  power  of  conception  and  creation  rose 
higher  and  higher,  till  he  reached  the  ideal  of  his 
Titan.  But  the  theme  is  always  the  same,  the  con- 
trast of  the  ideal  with  the  real,  the  Godlike  spark 
striving  with  the  mists  of  earth.  This  leads  us  to 
the  third  series  of  his  works  —  The  Comic,  where 
the  striving  after  the  ideal  becomes  an  illusion,  and 
the  source  oi  joy  and  contentment,  rendered  infi- 
nitely humorous  by  the  limited  nature  of  his  he- 
roes, and  the  contradiction  between  the  striving  of 
the  heart  and  the  striving  of  the  head  ;  the  con- 
trast of  the  grand  idea  with  the  limited  and  paltry 
power  of  execution  ;  as  in  Nicholas  Margraf,  who 
believes  himself  born  to  be  a  king,  and  conducts 
himself  right  royally  under  the  meanest  and  most 

'  I  avail  myself  gratefully  of  Carlyle's  translation,  as  I  have 
not  the  oriorinal  at  hand. 


314  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

pitiful  environment.  All  such  characters  protect 
themselves  by  their  ideal,  from  the  frosts  and  mise- 
ries of  the  external  world.  A  true  enthusiasm,  as 
Richter  says,  is  ''  like  the  bird  of  paradise,  that 
slumbers  flying,  and  on  his  outspread  pinions  over- 
sleeps, unconsciously,  the  earthquakes  and  confla- 
grations of  life,  in  its  long,  fair  dream  of  its  ideal 
mother-land  :"  an  illusion  becomes  comic  and  ridi- 
culous only,  when  it  is  like  that  foolish  bird,  who 
thinks   she  protects  her  body  by  hiding  her  head. 

I  have  said  too  much,  perhaps,  upon  this  sub- 
ject, but  it  seems  to  me  to  solve  what  has  been 
called  the  enigma  of  Jean  Paul's  works. 

When  we  come  to  the  execution  of  his  works,  to 
the  outward  form,  there  indeed  he  falls  far  short 
of  his  own  ideal.  He  pronounced  one  of  his 
works  a  horn  ruin.  All,  more  or  less,  partake  of 
that  character.  His  conceptions  were  glorious, 
perfect ;  the  edifice  stood  whole  and  secure  in  his 
mind,  but  when  he  comes  to  the  execution  upon 
paper,  it  seems  to  fall  together  in  a  confused  mass; 
the  fair-proportioned  columns,  that  should  support 
the  edifice,  stand  alone,  or  are  prostrate ;  ignoble 
parts  of  the  structure  are  thrust  out  in  close  con- 
tact with  the  beautiful,  and  mar  the  just  propor- 
tions of  the  whole  ;  the  divine  pictures,  and  cabi- 
nets of  gems,  that  should  adorn  with  chaste  beauty, 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  315 

are  scattered  in  reckless  profusion  over  every  part ; 
meanness  and  grace,  beauty  and  deformity,  are 
everywhere  mingled  together. 

That  Richter  was  deficient  in  taste  has  been 
allow^ed  by  his  warmest  admirers.  He  had  an  eye 
open  to  beauty,  but  he  had  also  no  disgust  at  de- 
formity. He  seems,  indeed,  to  have  imagined 
beauty  in  all  deformity,  except  that  of  vice.  This 
want  of  taste  may  be  accounted  for,  by  the  homely 
poverty  and  meanness  of  his  early  life.  He  had  a 
deep  and  pervading  feeling  of  moral  beauty,  he 
also  discerned  beauty  in  the  humblest  forms,  where 
other  eyes  had  never  looked  for  it.  But  as  he 
was  ignorant  of  the  conventionalisms  and  ele- 
gancies of  polished  life,  he  did  not  see  meanness 
and  deformity  where  a  fashion-educated  eye  would 
have  found  both.  Every  form  of  human  life,  the 
humblest  domestic  occupation,  possessed  beauty 
for  him  ;  and,  in  his  view,  the  hunting  of  rats  was 
as  heroic  as  the  hunting  of  hares.  In  this  respect 
he  reminds  us  of  Shakspeare,  —  how  soon,  after 
an  acquaintance  with  Shakspeare,  are-  what  the 
French  call  his  barbarisms,  forgotten. 

The  result  of  the  perusal  of  one  of  Jean  Paul's 
works  is  like  going  through  a  gallery  of  pictures, 
where  celestial  Madonnas,  St.  Johns,  and  St.  Ce- 
cilias  hang,  side  by  side,  with  Dutch  Inns,  Sancho 


316  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

Panzas,  and  drinking  boors  ;  but  we  go  back  again 
and  again  to  study  the  divine  pictures,  and  feel 
their  elevating  influence,  while  the  others,  although 
admired  for  their  truth  and  nature,  are  forgotten 
as  works  of  art. 

Another  peculiarity  of  Richter,  which  has  been 
ridiculed  by  superficial  readers,  is,  what  has  been 
called  his  sentiment alism.  It  is  not  a  weeping  or 
sickly  sentiment  that  characterizes  Jean  Paul,  but 
a  tenderness  of  heart,  a  poetry  of  his  own,  that 
leads  him  to  cherish  the  flower  planted  by  the 
hand  of  love  ;  to  remember  birth-days  and  anni- 
versaries ;  and  to  institute  many  festivals  of  the 
heart.  It  is  a  religion  of  the  affections,  that  be- 
longs to  the  Germans  more  than  to  any  other  na- 
tion, that  makes  them  capable  of  superstitious 
illusions,  but  that  it  would  be  unjust  to  call  senti- 
mentalism.  Humor  also  is  united  with  this  senti- 
ment, as  in  no  other  author,  except  Sterne,  whom 
Richter  is  said  to  resemble.  In  this  respect  he 
also  resembles  Burns,  uniting  with  a  deeper  ten- 
derness, an  equally  playful  and  heartfelt  pathos. 
Humor  is  fatal  to  false  sentiment,  extinguishing  it 
as  fire  devours  water,  but  it  heightens  the  tender- 
ness of  Richter,  as  a  smile  on  the  lip  enhances  the 
charm  of  a  tear  in  the  eye. 

Ah !    I   feel  how  impossible,  and  how  presump- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  317 

tuous  it  may  be,  to  endeavor,  through  translations, 
to  do  adequate  justice  to  an  author  whose  writings 
awoke   the  enthusiasm  of  the  whole  German  na- 
tion ;  excited  the  admiration  of  every  rank,  and 
were  equally  felt  by  such   opposite  characters  as 
Lavater  and  Herder,  Jacobi  and  the  ancient  Gleim. 
The  circumstances  of  our  own  country  are,  it  is 
true,  widely  different.     Richter  appeared  in  Ger- 
many in  the  midst  of  that  mighty  shaking  that  was 
given  by  the   French  revolution  to  all  established 
institutions,  to  all  artificial  distinctions  among  men. 
As  one  of  his  critics  writes,   '^  The  whole  nation, 
like  Jean  Paul  himself,  was  laboring  with  the  great 
idea  of  spiritual  and  social  emancipation.     Napo- 
leon's giant  hand  had  arrested  the  advancing  steps 
of  freedom,  and  the  nation    gave  itself  back  to 
a  secretly  growing  skepticism    of  feeling,    before 
which  the  earnest  emotions  were  ashamed  to  ap- 
pear.     Under  this  secret  pressure  of  the   heart, 
Jean  Paul's  works  were  like   the  words  of  a  pro- 
phet, who  appeared  before  them  with  the  freshest 
and  purest  emotions   of  nature  ;  he  had  the  cour- 
age  to  bare   for   them  his  breast  and  his  beating 
heart,  while  at  the  same  time  he  held  the  scourge 
over  the  pitiful  restraints  and  vulgar  ridicule  before 
which  the  tearful  eye  concealed  its  love,  its  long- 
ing, its  enthusiasm  and  its  higher  faith."     Rich- 


318  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

ter's  heart  beat  in  unison  with  the  heart  of  his  fel- 
low men.  While  Goethe  withdrew  in  philosophic 
retirement  to  study  osteology,  or  mark  the  beauti- 
ful shades  upon  the  lip  of  a  shell,  or  the  corolla  of 
a  plant,  Richter  threw  himself,  w  ith  all  his  powers, 
heart  and  soul,  into  that  uprising  of  the  German 
people  for  freedom,  which  has  been  called  a  living 
Poem.  With  us,  there  is,  indeed,  no  restraint  in 
thinking,  waiting,  or  speaking  ;  but  is  there  not  a 
secret  infidelity  as  to  the  existence  of  disinterested 
and  self-sacrificing  love  ;  an  extremely  practical 
course  of  thought,  that  leads  us  to  place  all  spirit- 
ual relations  among  the  illusions  of  life  ?  Is  there 
not  a  cold  egotism  that  disposes  us  to  undervalue 
everything  whose  material  existence  cannot  be 
proved  by  its  solid  advantages  ?  All  that  deviates 
from  the  straight  forward  railroad  path  of  life,  is, 
with  us,  called  transcendentalism.  Even  Richter 
has  been  said,  in  this  country,  to  belong  to  the 
"  Bedlamite  school.''^  It  would  be  nearly  as  just  to 
call  Paradise  Lost  of  the  Bedlamite  school. 

The  charge  of  affectation,  that  has  been  made 
against  Jean  Paul,  is  perhaps  as  unjust,  but  is  not 
so  easily  disproved.  All  affectation  supposes  some 
insincerity,  or  attempt  to  appear  otherwise  than 
strict  truth  allows.  Now  Richter  was  the  truest 
of  men  ;  he  was  so  open  and  fearless  in  the  asser- 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  319 

tion  of  all  his  opinions,  that  he  made  almost  as 
many  opponents  as  persons  with  whom  he  con- 
versed. But  the  charge  of  affectation  applies  only 
to  the  Jorm  of  his  writings,  and  as  already  men- 
tioned, arose  from  the  nature  of  his  first  works. 
I  repeat  again,  that  they  were  essays  and  satires, 
without  dramatic  form  or  fictitious  incident.  To 
give  novelty  to  old  themes,  he  sought  out  every 
strange  and  striking  form  of  expression  ;  exhaust- 
ed every  department  of  science,  and  all  the  realms 
of  nature,  for  illustrations  ;  heaped  image  upon 
comparison,  and  comparison  upon  image  ;  distort- 
ed, and  reversed,  and  turned  his  sentences  topsy- 
turvy. He  was  like  a  juggler,  who,  in  the  absence 
of  all  dramatis  personse,  makes  one  material  assume 
many  different  forms,  to  be  now  a  bird,  and 
directly,  by  slight  of  hand,  a  jewel,  a  flower,  or  a 
stone.  This  manner  became  habitual  to  him,  and 
later,  he  could  not,  if  he  would,  have  thrown  it  oflf. 
Otto  was  always  urging  him  to  translate  some  one 
of  his  works  into  plain  German,  and  publish  it 
without  name  or  preface.  Richter  answered,  "  that 
he  would  preserve  his  own  manner,  in  an  age  when 
Schiller  found  nothing  in  Thummel,  and  Her- 
der nothing  in  Schleiermacher  and  Tieck,  Schle- 
gel  everything  ;  when  Herder  called  his  (Rich- 
ter's)   style   classical,  and   Merkel  called  it  poor ; 


320  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

when  Goethe  said,  the  stupid  Genovefa  was  good  ; 
and  all  were  pitifully  in  opposition  to  themselves 
and  to  each  other." 

It  was  a  heavy  disadvantage  for  Richter,  that 
his  estrangement  from  Goethe  took  place  at  the 
beginning  of  his  popularity  ;  he  lost  the  benefit  of 
that  severe,  but  candid  and  friendly  criticism,  that 
to  one  so  regardless  of  all  form,  would  have  been 
of  incalculable  benefit.  The  reviews,  as  he  justly 
complained,  bestowed  upon  him  only  indiscrimi- 
nate praise,  or  boundless  censure.  Mrs.  Austin, 
among  English  critics,  has  been  most  impartially 
just.  She  says,  "  Jean  Paul  has  overlaid  a  world 
of  genuine  and  humane  wisdom,  with  bewildering 
conceits,  and  far-fetched,  unintelligible  illustra- 
tions. But  the  reader  who  will  look  below  the 
surface,  will  find,  that  his  knowledge  of  actual 
human  nature  was  profound,  and  his  views,  as  to 
what  human  nature  should  be,  benevolent,  ele- 
vated, and  consistent  with  the  soundest  reason  and 
humanity." 

Mr.  Carlyle,  to  whom  we  have  been  so  emi- 
nently indebted  for  his  beautiful  and  eloquent  es- 
says upon  Richter,  has  been  singularly  happy  in 
presenting  him  to  the  English  reader.  But  I  must 
be  permitted  to  say,  that  his  genuine  admiration 
has  led  him  to  exaggerate  the  peculiarities  of  Jean 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.  321 

Paul.  He  has  taken  the  color  of  that  upon 
which  he  fed,  and  now  gives  it  back  in  intenser 
shades.  His  later  translations  from  Jean  Paul 
have  been  deeply  overlaid  with  Carlyleisms. 

What  may  be  called  the  machinery  of  Jean 
Paul's  romances,  is  as  strange  as  their  form.  Like 
Scott,  he  prefaces  his  works  with  a  humorous 
account  of  the  motive  and  the  manner  of  their 
composition,  and  however  serious  the  subject,  it  is 
usually  set  in  a  comic  frame.  His  characters  are 
few  in  number,  but  with  little  change,  they  are 
always  the  same  company,  and  appear  again  and 
again  in  tragedy,  comedy,  or  farce.  Sometimes, 
as  he  says  himself,  they  play  their  parts  upon  the 
"  cold  Mont  Blanc  of  aristocratic  life  ;"  then,  in 
a  sheltered  cottage  in  the  valley,  or  in  a  shepherd's 
hut ;  his  favorite  theatre  is  the  quiet  parsonage  of 
a  country  minister,  where  he  takes  a  part  himself, 
and  holds  the  wire  that  involves  or  extricates  the 
mysterious  motions  of  his  puppets.  One  of  his 
favorite  modes  of  addressing  the  public  is  in  a 
letter  to  one  of  his  own  fictitious  characters,  in 
which  he  indulges  himself  in  all  sorts  of  witty 
allusions  and  humorous  remarks. 

His  various  works  are  like  episodes,  where  we 
meet  in  other,  and  far  different  circumstances,  our 

VOL.   II.  21 


322  LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL. 

old  acquaintances,  who  belong  to  one  great  whole, 
like  characters  in  real  life,  who  meet  and  part,  and 
meet  again.  Those  that  we  have  met  in  their 
early  years  in  one  romance,  we  see  again  in  a 
happy  old  age,  or  we  listen  to  the  eulogy  that  is 
pronounced  by  a  successor  upon  their  grave. 

The  reader  may  be  surprised  that  I  have  uni- 
formly called  Jean  Paul  a  poet ;  but  if  the  defini- 
tion of  poet  be,  "  one  that  gives  expression  to 
what  others  feel ;"  one,  who  interprets  that  in  the 
heart  which,  like  the  inarticulate  lisping  of  the 
child,  cannot  be  made  known  for  want  of  ade- 
quate expression,  then  he  as  truly  deserves  the 
name  of  poet,  as  if  every  line  he  has  written,  were 
measured,  and  rhymed  with  another  Une.  His 
great  heart  beat  with  the  united  pulses  of  all  hu- 
man hearts.  He  is  the  truest  interpreter  of  joy 
and  sorrow,  love  and  grief;  and  all  those  hidden 
feelings  that  are  revealed  by  the  poet,  as  the  sun 
beam  penetrates  the  mine,  and  shews  its  hidden 
treasures. 

Finally,  no  poet's  inward  life  is  more  distinctly 
made  known  than  Jean  Paul's,  in  his  works.  In 
his  elevated  characters  ;  in  his  Gustavus,  his  Alba- 
no,  his  Dehore.  Like  a  solitary  sage  he  looked 
out  from  his  hermitage  upon  the  ever-swelling  and 


LIFE    OF    JEAN    PAUL.. 


323 


rushing  waves  of  the  Hterature  and  pohtics  of  that 
remarkable  period  in  which  he  hved.  Unmoved 
by  its  passions,  still  and  calm,  he  was  like  a 
holy  prophet  of  its  issue.  Glowing  for  freedom, 
truth,  and  the  happiness  of  man,  yet  never  faiUng 
in  the  clearness  of  his  understanding,  or  the  firm- 
ness of  his  will.  Full  of  scorn  and  hatred  of  all 
servility  and  all  tyranny,  yet  ever  free  from  the 
folly  and  madness  of  enthusiasm.  With  impar- 
tiality and  justice  he  weighed  the  advantages  of 
this  world  in  the  same  scales  in  which  he  had 
placed  the  hopes  of  another. 

I  have  seen  a  cast  of  the  Alps,  a  few  feet 
square,  in  which  mountain  and  valley,  river  and 
lake  are  represented  in  their  true  position  and  just 
proportions.  The  avalanche,  the  cataract,  and  the 
shepherd's  little  hut  are  there  ;  nothing  is  added, 
though  much  is  left  out ;  but  ah,  how  inadequate 
to  represent  those  giant  palaces  of  nature,  those 
glorious  masses  of  light  and  color,  rising  in  the 
blue  depths  of  ether,  close  neighbors  to  the  stars. 
Such  a  representation  the  present  biography  must 
bear  to  the  real  Jean  Paul.  May  it  induce  those 
who  have  the  power,  to  become  acquainted  with 
him  in  his  works. 


APPENDIX 


WiELAND  was  born  in  1733,  (just  thirty  years  before 
Richter,)  in  Biberac,  in  Suabia.  His  father  was  a  Lu- 
theran minister.  In  his  fourteenth  year  he  was  sent  to  a 
cloister,  where  he  penetrated  deeply  into  the  spirit  of  the 
ancients,  and  became  acquainted  with  English  literature. 
Every  thing  conspired  to  make  Wieland  a  poet  —  his 
humble  natal  roof,  hallowed  by  the  presence  of  his  father, 
a  learned,  patriarchal  pastor;  the  ancient  cloisters  of  Ber- 
gen, the  still  monastic  Tubingen,  his  devotion  to  Sophia 
La  Roche  as  to  the  idea  of  perfection,  and  the  hope,  ever 
retreating  before  him,  but  always  kept  in  view,  of  one  day 
consecrating  himself  lo  her,  and  to  the  highest  virtue,  as  to 
one  and  the  same  thing  ;  his  long  residence  in  Switzerland, 
where  he  elaborated  his  works,  and  gave  them  the  ele- 
gance, the  clearness,  and  the  natural  grace,  which  cannot 
be  attained  by  mere  drudgery.  These  glad,  bright  regions 
of  the  golden  time ;  this  paradise  of  innocence,  when  he 
regarded  what  he  imagined  and  dreamed,  as  absolute 
reality,  he  dwelt  on  long;  but  disappointments  came;  he 
could  not  succeed  in  combining  these  high  interests  with 
the  necessities  of  every  day  existence;  the  conflict  with  the 
outward  world  began,  and,  after  long  struggles,  he  accepted 


326  APPENDIX. 

the  actual  as  the  necessary^  and  henceforth  made  war  upon 
his  former  romantic  dreams;  his  idea  of  Platonic  love,  and 
upon  all  that  cannot  be  shown  to  exist  in  reality.  Hence- 
forth he  permitted  no  single  impression  to  have  dominion 
over  him. 

Wieland's  change  of  views  maybe  in  part  attributed  to  his 
residence  with  count  Stadion.  His  library,  rich  in  modern 
French  and  English  literature,  helped  him  to  descend  from 
that  ideal  region,  in  which  he  loved  to  dwell  with  Sophia 
La  Roche,  and  after  he  had  been  wounded  by  what  is  called 
experience,  he  threw  himself  entirely  on  the  side  of  the 
real. 

In  his  fortieth  year  he  was  invited  by  the  duchess  Amelia 
to  superintend  the  education  of  her  sons ;  and  from  this 
time  he  was  assured  of  a  life  of  leisure  and  independence, 
which  was  continued  to  him  after  he  had  done  with  his 
pupils,  by  a  pension  from  the  duke. 

Wieland,  in  possession  of  complete  literary  leisure,  longed 
for  a  more  poetical  retirement,  and  bought  an  estate  in 
Osmanstadt,  not  far  from  Weimar.  Man,  born  for  so- 
ciety, often  cheats  himself  with  the  sweet  dream  that  he 
can  live  belter,  more  joyfully  in  seclusion.  In  the  excitable 
days  of  youth  we  imagine  that  solitude  is  the  great  refuge 
against  ourselves,  the  grand  remedy  for  the  wounds  we 
receive  in  the  contests  of  life.  It  is  a  grave  error.  The 
experience  of  life  teaches  us  that  neither  the  enjoyments  of 
literature  nor  art  can  fill  the  abyss  of  the  soul.  Wieland's 
happiness  was  interrupted  by  the  death  of  Sophia  La  Roche, 
the  daughter  of  his  first  love,  and  the  excellent,  careful 
partner  of  his  life,  whom  Jean  Paul  thought  he  could  never 
survive.  He  did  survive  for  the  space  of  twelve  years,  but 
the  solitude  of  Osmanstadt  became  too  oppressive  to  his 
bereaved  heart,  and  his  friend  the  duchess  Amelia  recalled 
him  to  herself.  He  was  henceforth  a  member  of  her  court 
and  house,  and  when,  with  others,  he  had   to  bear  the 


APPENDIX.  327 

afflictive  event  of  her  death,  court  and  city  vied  with  each 
other  to  console  him.^ 

Wieland's  hearVs  history,  of  which  Jean  Paul  says  he 
imparted  the  particulars  to  1dm,  a  willing  listener,  was  in 
part  his  early  and  innocent  connexion  with  Sophia  La  Roche, 
the  grandmother,  that  Bettine  mentions  so  often  in  her  let- 
ters to  Gunderode.  She  was  the  daughter  of  an  eminent 
physician.  Her  father  possessed  an  extensive  and  excellent 
library,  and  when  she  was  only  two  years  old  he  taught 
her  to  read  by  the  titles  of  the  books,  as  they  rested  on  the 
shelves.  Her  parents  gave  her  early  religious  instruction, 
and  cultivated  a  love  for  all  that  is  beautiful  in  nature  or 
art.  In  her  sixteenth  year  she  was  strikingly  beautiful, 
and  was  sought  in  marriage  by  a  learned  Italian,  who 
instructed  her  in  the  language  and  literature  of  his  native 
land.  At  this  time  Sophia  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  her 
excellent  mother,  and  her  father  became  desirous  to  have 
her  marriage  completed;  differences  arose,  however,  in  con- 
sequence of  religious  scruples.  Bianconi  insisting  that  all 
the  children  of  the  marriage,  daughters  as  well  as  sons, 
should  be  educated  in  the  Catholic  form  of  Christianity. 
The  father  of  Sophia  immediately  annulled  the  engage- 
ment; and  poor  Sophia  was  obliged,  in  the  presence  of  her 
grandmother,  father  and  aunts,  to  destroy  all  the  letters 
and  souvenirs  of  her  happy  love ;  the  picture  of  Bianconi 
was  cut  into  shreds,  and  a  ring,  set  with  brilliants,  broken 
into  pieces,  and  all  committed  to  the  flames. 

Her  mother,  who  had  been  her  tenderest  and  most  sym- 
pathizing friend,  died  too  early  for  the  happiness  of  her 
daughter ;  for  she  would,  no  doubt,  have  found  a  way  to 
smooth  all  difficulties;  but  Sophia,  who  would  shed  no 
tear  in  the  presence  of  her  stern  relatives,  retired  to  weep 
in  the  solitude  of  her  chamber,  where  she  struggled  alone 
with  a  new  temptation.     She  received  a  note  from  Bianconi 

'  From  the  notes  to  Mrs.  Austins  Characteristics  of  Goethe. 


328  APPENDIX. 

urging  her  to  a  secret  marriage,  and  a  flight  to  his  own 
country,  to  the  bosom  of  a  noble  and  loving  family.  He 
fortified  his  request  by  more  than  thirty  letters  from  her 
father,  where  he  had  unconditionally  promised  him  his 
daughter.  Sophia  would  not  leave  her  father  without  his 
blessing;  but  in  the  depths  of  her  soul,  and  in  unconsoled 
solitude,  she  vowed  constancy  to  the  man  who  had  done 
so  much  for  her  intellectual  nature.  With  this  view  she 
desired  to  enter  upon  a  noviciate,  in  order  to  pass  her  life 
in  a  cloister.  Her  father  would  not  permit  this  sacrifice ; 
but  he  allowed  her  the  uncontrolled  use  of  her  time,  and  to 
live  in  retirement,  where  she  devoted  herself  to  study,  and 
to  the  sciences  and  accomplishments  that  Bianconi  preferred. 

Sophia's  disinclination  to  society  obtained  for  her  per- 
mission from  her  father  to  go  with  her  sisters  to  live  with 
her  maternal  grandfather,  who  was  brother,  to  the  mother 
of  Wieland.  The  death  of  the  grandfather  occurring  soon 
after,  Sophia  entered  the  family  of  Wieland's  father,  where 
she  lived,  as  her  biographer  expresses  it,  by  her  own 
economy. 

Young  Wieland  came  in  the  vacation  to  his  father's 
house,  and  the  beautiful  maiden  of  nineteen  inspired  him 
with  the  most  enthusiastic  passion.  He  was  two  years 
younger ;  but  Sophia  could  then  appreciate  his  noble  cha- 
racter;  a  close  friendship  was  formed  between  them,  and 
even  in  old  age  they  thanked  God  for  having  led  them  both 
under  the  same  roof.  Often,  they  kneeled  together,  and 
devoted  themselves  in  prayer,  to  the  eternal  pursuit  and 
worship  of  truth  and  duty. 

Wieland  says,  "  It  was  an  ideal,  but  a  true  enchantment 
in  which  I  lived  ;  and  the  Sophia  that  I  loved  so  enthusias- 
tically, was  the  idea  of  perfection  embodied  in  her  form. 
Nothing  is  more  certain  than  that  if  destiny  had  not  brought 
us  together  I  should  never  have  been  a  poet."  They  vowed 
to  love  each  other  as  long  as  either  lived,  and  virtue  eter- 
nally. 


APPENDIX.  329 

Sophia  returned  to  her  father's  house,  and  Wieland  to 
Tubingen;  but  longing  to  see  Sophia,  impelled  him,  at  the 
end  of  two  years,  to  return.  He  then  went  to  Switzerland, 
where  he  lived  eight  years,  but  always  without  the  pros- 
pect of  any  provision  that  would  allow  them  to  marry.  At 
the  end  of  this  time  Sophia  gave  her  hand  to  Herr  La  Roche. 
It  does  not  appear  whether  her  father's  authority  was  again, 
as  in  the  first  instance,  exerted  ;  or  whether  considerations 
of  prudence  influenced  herself;  hut  the  marriage  was  a 
very  happy  one.  She  informed  Wieland  of  it  by  a  letter, 
and  he  seems  to  have  been  convinced  that  her  upright  and 
true  heart  could  not  have  done  otherwise ;  and  he  prayed 
for  the  continuance  of  her  friendship.  "A  friendship  that 
had  been  so  pure  and  disinterested,  need  not  be  broken  by 
another  union,  and  in  the  land  of  the  blessed,  if  never  in 
this  life,  we  shall  meet  each  other  again." 

Many  years  after  Sophia's  marriage  Wieland  visited  her. 
As  she  sat  at  the  window,  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door  ;  — 
a  presentiment  that  it  was  her  friend,  ran  through  her 
frame,  and  she  called  out  to  him  to  enter.  At  the  well 
known  sound  of  her  voice,  Wieland  remained  trans- 
fixed ;  when  she  opened  the  door,  and  met  him  with  the 
heartiest  welcome.  He  stood  speechless.  Seeing  her  eld- 
est son,  a  beautiful  youth,  he  called  him  to  him,  and  bow- 
ing his  head  over  that  of  the  boy,  shed  streams  of  tears. 
Sophia's  husband  entered  the  room,  when,  taking  the  hands 
of  Wieland  and  his  wife  in  his,  he  pressed  them  together. 
The  noble  La  Roche  cemented  the  bond  of  their  friendship, 
which  endured  yet  many  years. 

Sophia  could  not  be  otherwise  than  happy  with  a  man 
so  gifted  with  every  noble  quality,  as  the  one  with  whom 
Providence  had  united  her,  although  she  married  against 
the  voice  of  her  heart.  She  had  hitherto  lived  in  retire- 
ment, or  in  learned  circles;  she  was  now  introduced  by  her 
husband  into  the  exclusive  society  of  the  German  nobility ; 


330  APPENDIX. 

and  her  knowledge  of  the  world,  gained  by  reading,  was 
corrected  by  experience.  Her  truly  enlarged  mind  rose 
above  the  conventionalism,  and  artificial  distinctions  of 
rank,  and  enabled  her  to  see  and  acknowledge  worth  and 
talent,  wherever  it  existed. 

After  sixteen  years'  service  at  the  court  of  a  Germaa 
prince,  where  Sophia  had  every  opportunity  to  form  friend- 
ships with  distinguished  characters,  her  husband  retired  to 
an  estate  in  OfTenback,  the  beautiful  residence  from  which 
so  many  of  Bettine's  letters  are  dated,  and  the  letter  was 
written  that  is  published  in  the  body  of  this  work.  Here 
she  lived  with  her  husband  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  quiet  of 
domestic  life ;  in  devotion  to  her  favorite  sciences,  sur- 
rounded by  a  beautiful  nature  —  a  poet  called  her  house  a 
temple  of  Euphrosyne,  where  the  pious  sacrifice  flame  was 
always  lighted.  Goethe,  in  his  biography,  gives  an  in- 
teresting account  of  the  manner  of  life  at  Oflfenback,  and  of 
Madame  La  Roche.  Here,  after  thirty-five  years  of  happy 
union,  she  lost  her  husband,  and  soon  after  the  blooming 
youth  of  twenty-four  years  old,  whom  she  mentions  so 
touchingly  in  her  letter  to  Jean  Paul. 

In  consequence  of  the  French  war  she  lost  the  greater 
part  of  her  fortune ;  but  her  trust  in  Providence  was  so 
firm,  that  she  never  for  a  moment  lost  her  cheerfulness. 
After  thirty  years  separation,  she  visited  Wieland  at  Os- 
manstadt,  near  Weimar,  where  he  was  living  at  the  time 
of  Jean  Paul's  second  visit  at  Weimar.  Wieland  had 
taken  the  daughter  of  Sophia  La  Roche  —  Sophia  Brentano, 
into  that  intimate  friendship  he  had  ever  preserved  with 
the  mother;  and  after  the  death  of  both  he  said,  "  What  I 
have  once  tenderly  loved,  never  dies  for  me.  I  help  myself 
wiih  illusions.  They  are  dead  only  to  my  outward  sense, 
and  that  is  certainly  painful." 

The  life  of  Sophia  La  Roche  was  a  high  ideality,  and 
age,  instead  of  lessening  it,  only  increased  its  pure  and 


APPENDIX,  331 

lofty  purposes.  She  was  a  living  proof  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  for  her  life  was  so  spiritual,  that  it  must  have 
come  immediately  from  a  higher  sphere,  and  imm.ediately 
returned  there.  Her  deep  religious  faith,  and  firm  confi- 
dence in  Providence,  were  immovable;  hence  her  enthu- 
siastic love  of  plants,  and  all  the  works  of  God,  and  her 
knowledge  of  all  the  appearances  and  phenomena  of  na- 
ture. She  was  extensively  acquainted  with  the  sciences ; 
well  versed  in  ancient  and  modern  history,  and  her  knowl- 
edge of  the  philosophy  of  history,  and  observation  of  the 
fate  of  nations,  as  well  as  of  eminent  men,  not  only  estab- 
lished the  benevolence  of  her  heart,  but  made  her  patient 
under  sorrows,  and  grateful  for  her  own  happy  destiny. 
Every  thing  connected  with  the  beautiful  arts  was  infinitely 
dear  to  her.  In  early  life  her  poems  and  pictures  of  touch- 
ing scenes  were  charming. 

She  held  the  purity  of  the  female  character  to  be  the  foun- 
dation of  all  domestic  happiness;  without  which,  no  other 
female  virtue  could  have  its  influence  or  power.  She 
studied  the  science  of  education,  not  only  through  her  ten- 
der interest  in  her  own  children,  but  to  make  her  little 
books  for  the  benefit  of  young  people,  more  useful.  All 
these  virtues  are  expressed  in  her  writings,  and  make  her 
one  of  the  most  distinguished  female  authors  of  Germany. 
They  are  not  highly  imaginative,  but  they  recommend  vir- 
tue and  domestic  happiness  in  a  noble,  simple,  and  attrac- 
tive manner.  Her  stories  are  domestic  scenes,  after  the 
manner  of  Richardson.  She  wrote  many  real  and  imagin- 
ary journeys  for  young  people  ;  many  stories  to  teach  resig- 
nation under  affliction  ;  books  of  instruction  for  young 
ivivcs  and  housekeepers,  and  published  many  translations 
from  the  French  and  English.  The  female  literature  of 
Germany  is  rich  in  books  of  the  kind  above  mentioned, 
and  those  of  the  Fraulein  La  Roche  are  among  the  best. 

After  her  death  Wieland  had  the  melancholy  satisfactioa 


332  APPENDIX. 

of  editing  her  whole  works,  and  writing  many  prefaces 
and  notes.  —  Abridged  from  SchindeVs  Biography. 


II. 

Herder  was  the  son  of  poor  parents.  His  father  was  the 
teacher  of  a  humble  school  for  girls,  "but  an  earnest,  duty- 
fulfilling,  honest  man  ;  his  mother,  a  sensible,  industrious, 
quiet  Hausfrau ;  distinguished  by  her  gifts  of  mind  and 
person,  and  by  accomplishments  surpassing  others  of  her 
sex  in  lowly  life."  The  history  of  Herder's  youth  is  the 
often-repeated  tale  of  the  unfolding  of  mind  under  every 
circumstance  of  oppression  and  want.  In  his  father's  fam- 
ily all  the  domestic  business  and  the  hours  of  reading,  were 
strictly  regulated.  If  there  was  anything  to  be  done,  the 
children  durst  not  excuse  themselves.  It  must  be  done.  It 
was  only  by  strenuous  industry  that  his  father  could  make 
his  small  income  meet  the  expenses  of  a  large  family. 
When  his  father  was  satisfied  with  him,  his  countenance 
expressed  it;  and  he  laid  his  hand  upon  his  head,  and  call- 
ed him  Gottes-Friede,  (God's  peace.)  His  name  was  God- 
fried. 

Herder's  youth  was  so  quiet  and  reserved,  that  his 
teacher  thought  him  dull,  and  advised  his  father  lo  bind 
him  to  some  mechanical  employment;  but  he  observed, 
that  the  young  man  kept  his  light  burning  late  at  night ; 
and,  going  into  his  room  long  after  midnight,  he  found  the 
bed  covered  with  Greek  and  Latin  classics,  open,  as  if  they 
had  been  studied ;  and  the  boy  lying  asleep  in  the  midst, 
with  the  lighted  candle  in  his  hand. 

About  this  time  a  regiment  was  quartered  in  Herder's 
native  place.  The  surgeon,  a  benevolent  and  enlightened 
raan,  was  favorably  impressed  by  the  young  Herder,  and 
ofifered  to  take  him  to  Konigsberg  to  study,  either  medicine 


APPENDIX. 


333 


or  surgery;  and  to  obtain  help  for  his  already-impaired 
eyes.  The  offer  was  received  by  his  parents  as  a  light 
from  heaven  in  a  dark  night;  and  although  Herder  felt  no 
inclination  to  surgery,  he  regarded  this  deliverance  from 
his  destitute  and  oppressed  situation  with  joy. 

Immediately  after  his  arrival  at  Konigsberg,  his  friend 
led  him  to  an  anatomical  school,  and  the  young  Herder 
sank  fainting  upon  the  floor  ;  from  henceforth  he  could  not 
bear  the  name  of  surgery  without  a  nervous  shudder. 

As  he  returned  from  the  school,  he  met  an  old  school- 
fellow, who  was  a  student  of  theology,  and  resolved  to  pre- 
sent himself  for  examination  to  the  theological  faculty  of 
the  college.  He  was  immediately  admitted;  and  although 
his  worldly  possessions  were  only  three  Prussian  dollars 
and  eight  grotchen,  he  wrote  to  his  parents,  that  he  would 
support  himself  by  his  own  industry.  He  kept  his  word, 
although  he  practised  the  strictest  economy,  and  his  food 
was  often,  for  many  days  together,  only  bread  and  water. 

At  the  age  of  twenty,  Herder  was  chosen  a  teacher  of  the 
Domschule  in  Riga,  and  began  to  preach.  With  true  reli- 
gious feeling.  Herder  knew  how,  in  his  preaching  to  excite 
careless  minds  and  insensible  hearts.  His  themes  were 
immortality,  love  to  God  and  man,  and  every  virtue.  With 
soul-moving  eloquence,  the  ornaments  of  a  youthful  fancy, 
and  a  persuasive  voice,  he  seized  irresistibly  upon  every 
heart;  while  his  fine  speaking  countenance,  his  eloquent 
eye  and  graceful  gestures,  heightened  the  impression  made 
by  his  sermons. 

It  would  be  delightful  to  follow  Herder  through  his  life  ; 
but  I  wish  to  speak  of  him  only  in  his  union  with  his  ac- 
complished wife.  In  reading  the  lives  of  literary  men  and 
women,  no  one  can  avoid  the  melancholy  conviction,  that 
divorces,  consequently  unhappy  marriages,  are  more  fre- 
quent among  them  than  with  any  other  class.     The  rea- 


334  APPENDIX. 

sons  that  might  be  given  for  this,  would  open  a  sorrowful 
page  in  the  history  of  women. 

It  is  delightful  to  find,  in  the  lives  of  Herder  and  his  wife, 
two  literary  characters,  living  from  youth  to  age  in  the 
most  beautiful  harmony  of  mind,  and  of  pursuit.  Caroline 
helped  her  husband  in  his  literary  difficulties,  sympathized 
in  his  disappointments,  and  vindicated  his  memory  in  an 
eloquent  and  touching  memoir^  published  after  his  death. 

They  were  betrothed,  long  before  their  poverty  would 
allow  them  to  marry.  Herder  had  become  governor  to  a 
young  prince  of  Darmstadt,  and,  in  accompanying  him,  on 
a  visit  to  a  kindred  prince,  he  was  invited  to  preach  in  the 
court  chapel.  Caroline  gives  the  following  account  of  her 
first  meeting  with  her  future  husband  : 

"  Herder  was  invited  to  preach.  I  heard  the  voice  of  an 
angel,  and  soul's-words  such  as  I  never  heard  before.  In 
the  afternoon  I  saw  him,  and  stammered  out  my  thanks  to 
him.  From  this  lime  forth  our  souls  were  one.  Our 
meeting  was  God^s  work  !  More  intimately  could  not  hearts 
be  united  than  ours.  My  love  was  a  feeling,  a  harmony. 
Ah,  certainly  no  one  knew  him  as  I  did,  thanks  be  to  God! 
From  this  time  forward  we  saw  each  other  daily.  I  felt  a 
happiness  never  experienced  before,  but  also  an  indescriba- 
ble melancholy;  I  feared  I  should  never  see  him  again  ! 

"  The  twenty-fifth  of  August,  we  celebrated,  in  the  little 
circle  of  his  friends,  his  birth-day.  He  gave  me  his  first 
letter,  and  with  this  letter  I  received  the  holiest  gift  this 
earth  contained  for  me  —  his  love  !  Ah,  I  could  only  thank 
God !  The  twenty-seventh,  he  left  Darmstadt,  to  go  to 
Strasburg.  At  the  moment  of  separation,  I  spoke  with 
him  for  ihefrst  time  alone.  But  no  ivords  were  necessary; 
we  were  one  heart,  and  one  soul !  No  separation  could  ever 
divide  us.*' 

It  was  upon  this  residence  in  Strasburg,  for  an  operation 
upon  his  eyes,  that  Herder  met  Goethe,  who  has  given  a 


APPENDIX.  335 

minute  account  of  their  intercourse,  in  his  Dichtung  und 
Wahrheit. 

Caroline  gives  the  following  account  of  their  marriage  : 
"  A  worthy  old  clergyman  married  us,  in  the  circle  of  my 
relations,  by  the  rose-light  of  a  beautiful  evening.  It  was 
God's  blessing  that  seemed  audibly  spoken  over  our  union. 
The  separation  from  my  sisters  was  painful,  but  he  indem- 
nified me  for  all,  and  gave  me  a  thousandfold  more  than  I 
deserved.  I  thought  now  with  pain,  how,  during  our  be- 
trolhment,  I  had  tormented  him  with  asking  him  to  forget 
me;  for  I  had  no  fortune,  and  possessed  no  other  advan- 
tages to  make  him  as  happy  as  he  deserved.  In  every  letter, 
he  told  me  that  I  was  the  blessing  of  his  life  ;  that  I  durst 
not,  I  should  not  leave  him,  for  thus  he  would  be  alone  in 
the  world.  That  God  would  never  leave  us;  that  He 
would  bless  our  union." 

Thirty-three  years  afterwards,  Caroline  wrote  to  Jean 
Paul,  on  this  anniversary,  "I  am  to-day  alone,  and  in  the 
other  world.     It  is  the  second  of  May,  our  marriag"e  day." 

Their  m.arriage  w^as  indeed  a  happy  one.  Herder  usually 
wrote  by  the  side  of  his  wife,  and  she  assisted  him  by  copy- 
ing his  rough  sketches  and  first  thoughts. 

Three  years  after  his  marriage.  Herder  was  invited  to 
Weimar  to  fill  the  place  of  Consistorial  Rath,  and  court 
preacher.  Many  reports  had  preceded  Herder,  of  his  her- 
esy and  his  contempt  of  forms.  They  had  said,  among 
other  things,  that  he  preached  in  boots  and  spurs,  and  that 
after  every  sermon  he  rode  three  times  around  the  church 
and  out  the  door  on  horseback.  Accordingly  the  church 
was  crowded  to  hear  his  first  sermon.  All  were  charmed 
with  his  eloquence.  Herder  refers  to  the  reports  about  him 
in  a  letter  to  a  friend,  where  he  says,  "  I  live  in  the  whirl- 
pool of  business,  a  quiet  and  retired  life,  and  preach  in  Dr. 
Luther's  coat  and  surplice." 
Herder  and  his  wife  were  both  distinguished  members  of 


336  APPENDIX. 

that  delightful  literary  society,  that  formed  around  the 
duchess  Amelia ;  where  they  enjoyed  tlie  fairest  evening 
hours,  with  spiritual  men  and  accomplished  women,  and 
read  the  Poets,  and  acted  Shakspeare  ;  and  where  we  meet 
again  Wieland  and  Goethe,  Knebel  and  Einsiedel,  Madam 
von  Kalb,  and  all  the  names  so  familiar  to  us  in  the  life  of 
Jean  Paul. 

Herder's  first  separation  from  Caroline  was  occasioned  by 
a  journey  to  Italy,  where  he  spent  nearly  a  year.  This 
was  the  occasion  of  many  delightful  letters.  I  translate 
only  one. 

"To-day  is  the  day  of  our  Verlohung  in  spirit,  when  I 
brought  you  my  first  letter,  my  Caroline.  Oh,  a  thousand, 
thousand  times  dearer  than  when,  trembling,  I  gave  it  to 
you.  Oh,  believe  it,  thou  much-tried,  good,  dear,  richly-sacri- 
ficing, heroic  soul !  You  have  made  me  all  that  I  now  am ; 
have  cared  for  all,  and  have  given  yourself  to  me  a  thousand 
times  !  And  what  have  I  done  for  you  ?  how  can  I  repay 
you  ?  Spare  your  health  ;  and  I  am  certain,  as  of  my  ex- 
istence, that  we  shall  lead  a  new  bridal  life  together,  hap- 
pier than  the  old;  for  we  are  wiser,  and  in  the  future  we 
shall  be  better.  I  am  certain  our  short  separation  has  been 
a  present  from  the  All  Good.  Remove  all  doubts  from  your 
heart,  and  be  with  me  with  thy  good,  strong  soul,  as  thy 
dear,  beautiful  form  is  always  at  my  side." 

Herder  wrote  also  to  Jacobi  at  this  time :  "  I  have  a  wife 
that  is  the  tree,  the  consolation  and  the  happiness  of  ray 
life.  Even  in  quickly  flying,  transient  thoughts,  (which 
often  indeed  surprises  us,)  we  are  one  !  She  suffers  only 
when  she  sees  me  sufier;at  other  times  she  is  all  peace  and 
activity,  full  of  good  courage  and  cheerful  views." 

Herder's  situation  in  Weimar  was  never  favorable  to  his 
happiness.  He  was  oppressed  with  a  multiplicity  of  affairs, 
obliged  to  preach  all  kinds  of  occasional  sermons,  especially 


APPENDIX.  337 

to  eulogize  all  the  members  of  the  Ducal  family  ;  and  he 
was  constantly  opposed  in  his  efforts  to  improve  the  schools 
and  the  churches  under  his  care,  and  to  place  a  barrier 
against  the  fashionable  levity  and  irreverence  for  religion, 
that  made  giant  strides  in  Weimar  during  the  lime  of  the 
revolution  in  France. 

Herder  died,  not  of  old  age,  but,  as  his  wife  expressed  it, 
"  from  disappointment  over  his  false  position,  his  failed  life  ; 
of  highly-excited  nerves,  and  a  heart  wounded  and  broken 
by  the  evils  of  the  times." 

After  his  death,  Caroline  exerted  all  her  power  to  collect 
materials  for  his  life,  which  she  did  not  publish  herself,  but 
prepared  them  for  a  literary  friend.  She  arranged  his  un- 
published papers,  and  prepared  them  for  a  complete  edition 
of  his  works;  saw  her  six  sons  well  established  in  life,  and 
her  only  daughter  married,  —  and  then  followed  him,  from 
whom  her  thoughts  had  never  strayed.' 

I  have  given  this  little  notice  of  the  Herders  to  show 
that  literary  women  are  not  necessarily  eccentric  or  ego- 
tistical;  not  necessarily  mad  enthusiasts,  or  careless  house- 
keepers; faithless  wives,  or  neglectful  mothers;  but  that 
they  may  perform  all  the  duties  of  life  as  cheerfully,  as 
gracefully,  and  as  faithfully,  as  if  they  had  never  learnt 
the  alphabet  of  literature. 

HI. 

THE    KAMPANER  THAL. 

The  Kampaner  Thai  is  so  beautiful  a  work,  that  I  wish 
to  give  a  fuller  account  of  it  than  I  had  room  for  in  the  text. 
It  purports  to  be  part  of  a  journal,  kept  by  the  author  in 
travelling  through  France,  and  is  addressed  to  Victor,  the 
hero  of  the  Hesperus.  Jean  Paul  was  in  the  habit  of  ad- 
dressing letters  to  his  fictitious  characters,  as  to  his  other 

*  From  the  Life  of  Herder,  by  Carl  L.  Ring. 
VOL.  II.  22 


338  APPENDIX. 

correspondents ;  and  it  seems  as  if  it  must  have  been  difR- 
cult  for  him  to  draw  the  line  between  his  living  and  his 
imaginary  friends. 

To  return.  In  this  imaginary  journey  he  meets  a  gen- 
tleman, Carlson,  called  the  Rittmaster,  who  had  been  trav- 
elling with  a  party  of  friends,  consisting  of  the  baron  Wil- 
helmi,  his  wife,  wife's  sister,  and  their  domestic  chaplain. 
Carlson  had  been  deeply  attached  to  Gione,  the  newly  mar- 
ried wife  of  the  baron  ;  and  it  is  delicately  hinted,  that  the 
attachment  had  been  mutual ;  but  some  German  conven- 
tionalisms interfering,  she  had  married,  although  not  very 
unhappily,  against  the  voice  of  her  heart.  The  party  rest  at 
an  inn,  where  a  bridal  party  are  celebrating  their  nuptials 
in  one  apartment,  while  the  young  and  beautiful  daughter 
of  the  host  lies  in  her  shroud,  in  another.  The  sight  of 
the  pale  face,  with  its  crown  of  roses,  atTects  Gione,  whose 
nerves  are  already  weakened,  in  such  a  manner  as  to  pro- 
duce a  fainting  fit,  so  long,  as  to  assume  the  appearance  of 
death.  Carlson,  whose  love  for  Gione  had  taken  the  nun's 
veil,  and  he  had  built  around  his  heart  a  cloister  wall,  is 
betrayed  by  the  sight  into  the  discovery  of  his  concealed 
passion,  which  he  expresses  in  an  ode,  "TAe  complaint  with- 
out consolation,^^  and  leaves  the  party  before  Gione  had  re- 
covered from  her  swoon.  Just  now,  Jean  Paul  overtakes 
him  ;  and  having  been  later  at  the  inn,  tells  him  it  was 
only  a  fainting  fit  that  had  assumed  the  appearance  of 
death.     He  returns  to  the  party,  and  takes  Paul  with  him. 

They  all  agree  to  travel  on  foot  through  the  beautiful 
valley  (Kampaner  Thai,)  situated  in  the  upper  Pyrennees, 
at  the  termination  of  which  is  the  castle  of  the  baron,  the 
future  home  of  Gione.  The  description  of  the  valley  is  in 
Jean  Paul's  best  manner,  and  the  female  characters  are 
made  known  with  exquisite  touches.  Nadine,  the  sister, 
to  whom  intercourse  with  the  world  and  a  happy  tempera- 
ment have  given  a  playful,  light,  ever  cheerful  exterior,  is 


APPENDIX.  339 

contrasted  with  Gione,  who  has  a  tender  and  earnest  ex- 
pression, with  a  slender  and  perfectly  Grecian  style  of 
beauty.  Carlson  is  not  an  Atheist,  but  his  "  complaint  with- 
out consolation,"  has  betrayed  his  disbelief  of  a  future  life, 
and  his  faith  in  annihilation.  The  chaplain  is  a  disciple  of 
Kant.  Jean  Paul  undertakes  to  support  the  doctrine  of  the 
immortality  of  the  soul,  and  a  future  recognition  of  friends 
beyond  the  grave.  After  asserting  many  proofs  drawn 
from  analogy,  the  Kantian  said,  "  that  from  the  unity  of 
the  universe  it  may  be  concluded,  that  emigrants  from  the 
earth  will  visit  every  planet;  and  those  delicate  souls  who 
shun  the  sun  will  find  themselves  happy  in  Uranius:  that 
the  widely  differing  climates  in  the  planets  was  no  conclu- 
sion against  the  future  residence  of  man  upon  them,  because 
man  can  accommodate  himself  to  every  climate." 

Jean  Paul  answered,  *'  I  have  a  strong  objection  against 
the  future  voyage  pittoresque  through  the  planets;  we  bear 
in  our  own  breasts  a  heaven,  full  of  constellations.  There 
is  in  our  hearts  an  inward,  spiritual  world,  that  breaks 
like  a  sun  upon  the  clouds  of  the  outward  world.  I  mean, 
that  inward  universe  of  goodness,  beauty,  and  truth;  three 
worlds  that  are  neither  part,  nor  shoot,  nor  copy  of  the  out- 
ward. We  are  less  astonished  at  the  incomprehensible  ex- 
istence of  these  transcendental  heavens,  because  they  are 
always  there,  and  we  foolishly  imagine  that  we  create, 
when  we  merely  perceive  them.  After  ivhat  model,  with 
what  plastic  power,  and  from  what,  could  we  create  these 
same  spiritual  worlds?  The  atheist  should  ask  himself, 
how  he  received  the  giant  idea  of  God,  that  he  has  neither 
opposed,  nor  embodied?  an  idea  that  has  not  grown  up 
by  comparing  different  degrees  of  greatness,  as  it  is  the 
opposite  of  every  measure  and  degree.  In  short,  the  athe- 
ist speaks  as  others,  oi prototype  and  original. 

"  As  there  are  idealists  of  the  outward  world  who  believe 
that  perceiving  a  thing  creates  the  thing  itself;    so  there 


340  APPENDIX. 

are  idealists  of  the  inward  world,  who  deduce  the  being 
from  tlie  appearincr,  the  souniHrom  the  echo,  instead  of,  on 
the  contrary,  inferring  appearance  from  reality ^  consciousness 
from  the  object  itself.  We  take  erroneously  the  power  of 
analyzing  our  inward  world  for  the  ^jrefornaation  of  the 
same  ;  that  is,  we  think  ourself  the  originator  and  founder, 
when  we  are  only  the  genealogist. 

"This  inward  world,  that  is  indeed  more  splendid  and 
admirable  than  the  outward,  needs  another  heaven  than 
the  one  above  us,  and  a  higher  world  than  that  the  sun 
warms;  therefore,  we  say  justly,  not  a  second  earth,  or 
globe,  but  a  second  icorld  beyond  this  universe." 

Gione  interrupted  me  —  ''and  every  virtuous  and  wise 
man  is  a  proof  of  another  world." 

"  And,"  continued  Nadine,  quickly,  "  every  one  who  un- 
deservedly sutlers  !  " 

"  Yes,"  I  answered,  "  that  is  what  draws  our  thread  of 
life  through  a  long  eternity.  The  threefold  echo  of  virtue, 
truth,  and  beauty  created  by  the  music  of  the  spheres,  calls  us 
from  this  hollow  earth  to  the  neighborhood  of  the  music. 
Why  and  ivhcrc/orc  were  these  desires  given  us  ?  Merely, 
that  like  a  swallowed  diamond,  they  should  sloMiy  cut 
through  our  earthly  covering.  Wherefore  were  we  placed 
upon  this  ball  of  earth,  creatures  with  light  wings  ;  if  instead 
of  soaring  with  our  wings  of  ether,  we  are  to  fall  back  into 
the  earth  clods  of  our  birth  ?  " 

Carlson  asked:  "  but  could  not  our  spiritual  powers  be 
given  us  to  preserve  and  heighten  the  enjoyments  of  the  pres- 
ent life  ?  " 

"  To  preserve  ?  "  I  answered,  "  as  if  an  angel  would  be 
imprisoned  in  the  body  to  be  its  dumb  servant ;  its  stove- 
warmer  and  butler;  its  c?/.<//iiVr  and  porter  at  the  door  of 
the  stomach  ?  Shall  the  ethereal  flame  merely  serve  to  fill 
the  circular  stove  with  life's  warmth  ;  obediently  burn  and 
warm;    and  then  become  cold  and  extinguished!     Every 


APPENDIX.  341 

tree  of  knowlctl^e  is  a  Upas  tree  to  the  body,  and  every  re- 
finement a  s\ow  poison  infused  into  the  cup  of  sensual  pleas- 
ure; but  on  the  contrary,  corporeal  needs  are  the  iron  key 
to  freedom  of  soul ;  the  stomach  is  the  rich  forcing  glass  of 
future  bloom  ;  and  the  different  animal  impulses  are  only  the 
earthly  steps  to  the  Grecian  temple  of  our  higher  nature. 

"For  enjoyment  do  you  say?  That  is,  we  receive  the 
food  0^ animals  to  satisfy  the  taste  and  hunger  of  the  gods? 
The  part  of  us  that  is  of  earth,  this  indeed,  like  the  earth- 
worm, is  filled  and  nourished  with  earthly  food.  All  the 
conditions  of  our  earthly  existence  must  be  complied  with, 
ere  the  demands  of  the  inward  nature  can  be  made  known. 
Is  the  bellowing  animal  circle  fed,  the  animal  contest 
finished ;  then  the  inward  being  demands  its  nectar  and  am- 
brosial bread;  but  if  this  inward  being  nourishes  its  appe- 
tites with  earthly  food  alone,  they  become  avenging  angels  ; 
or  change  to  a  god  of  hell  that  impels  to  self-murder,  or  is 
destroyed  in  a  poisonous  mixture  of  all  joys.  For  the  eter- 
nal hunger  in  man,  the  unappeased  longing  of  his  heart 
demands  not  richer^  but  other  food.  Thus  our  indigence  is 
not  satisfied  w'\\\\  the  quantity,  but  depends  on  the  species  of 
the  food.  The  imagination  can  paint  itself  a  degree  of  satis- 
faction, but  it  is  not  happy  in  the  accun^ulation  of  all  pos- 
sessions, if  they  are  other  than  truth,  beauty  and  goodness.'^ 

"  But  the  finer  souls  ?  "  said  Nadine. 

I  answered  :  "  This  discrepancy  between  our  wishes  and 
our  relations  ;  between  the  soul  and  the  earth,  remains  a 
riddle  if  we  continue;  and  if  we  cease  to  life,  a  blasphemy. 
Strangers,  born  upon  mountains,  we  consume  in  lowly 
places,  with  unhealthy  heimweh  (homesickness.)  We  be- 
long to  higher  regions,  and  an  eternal  longing  grows  in 
our  hearts  at  music,  which  is  the  Kuhreigen  of  our  native 
Alps."  .  .  . 

"From  hence  what  follows?"  asked  the  chaplain. 

"  Not  that  we  are  unhappy,  but  that  we  are  immortal ; 


342  APPENDIX. 

and  that  this  world  within  us,  demands  and  manifests  a 
second,  ivithout  us  !  Ah,  what  can  we  not  say  upon  this 
second  life,  whose  beginning  is  so  evidently  in  this,  and 
that  so  wonderfully  doubles  our  joys  ?  Wherefore  does  a 
certain  higher  purity  of  character  disable  us  from  being 
always  more  useful,  as,  according  to  Herschel,  there  are 
suns  to  which  no  earths  belong?  Wherefore  is  the  heart 
consumed  and  broken  by  the  long,  feverish,  but  infinite  love 
for  an  infinite  object;  and  only  alleviated  with  the  hope 
that  this  heart  sickness,  like  the  physical,  will  be  stilled 
with  the  ice  of  death,  and  afterwards  raised." 

"  No,"  said  Gione,  with  a  voice  trembling  with  feeling, 
"it  is  not  ice,  but  lightning;  that  when  the  heart  is  laid  on 
the  altar  as  a  sacrifice,  falls  from  heaven  and  consumes  it, 
as  a  proof  that  the  sacrifice  is  well  pleasing  to  God." 

I  know  not  why,  but  her  touching  voice  and  eye  entered 
my  soul,  and  totally  interrupted  the  concluding  links  of  my 
chain  of  argument. 

Nadine,  who  is  usually  victorious  over  all  emotion,  was 
touched  by  her  sister's  voice.  She  reached  her  hand  into 
a  neighboring  garden,  and  took  from  under  the  hairy  leaf 
of  a  potato  branch,  a  large,  night  butterfly,  and  showed  it 
to  us  with  a  calm  and  tender  smile.  It  was  the  so  called 
death'' s-head.  I  stroked  the  depressed  wings  and  said,  "  It 
had  its  birth  in  Egypt,  the  land  of  mummies  and  graves; 
it  bears  a  memento  mori  upon  its  back,  and  a  miserere  in  its 
plaintive  note." 

"It  is,  nevertheless,  a  butterfly,"  said  the  chaplain. 

Upon  Gione's  face  again  rested  that  reflective  calmness 
that  made  her,  through  the  silence  of  her  sorrow,  so  infi- 
nitely beautiful  and  great.  "  Once  you  said  —  the  female 
Psyche,  although  pierced  through  with  burning  iron,  should 
not  beat  violently  and  convulsively  her  wings,  for  thus  she 
would  destroy  her  exquisite,  unrufl[led  beauty  !  Ah,  how 
true  a  word  ! " 


APPENDIX.  343 

At  this  moment,  the  already-mentioned  ode  of  Carlson's 
is  read,  in  which  he  laments  the  annihilation  of  so  much 
beauty  and  truth,  and  avers  his  inconsolable  sorrow. 

Jean  Paul  resumes  —  I  cannot  tell  thee,  my  Victor,  how 
painful,  how  monstrous  and  horrible  the  thought  of  an  anni- 
hilating death,  of  an  eternal  grave,  for  this  noble  form,  in 
all  its  spiritual  beauty,  now  appeared  to  me !  If  Carlson 
was  right,  this  innocent  soul,  that  had  never  been  happy, 
would  pass  from  its  prison  upon  the  earth,  to  its  hollow 
prison  under  it.  Men  often  bear  their  errors,  as  their  truths, 
about  in  words,  and  not  in  feeling ;  but  let  the  believer  in 
annihilation  place  before  him,  instead  of  a  life  of  sixty 
years,  one  of  sixty  minutes;  then  let  him  look  upon  the 
face  of  a  beloved  being,  or  upon  a  noble  and  wise  man,  as 
upon  an  aimless  hour-long  appearance ;  as  a  thin  shadow, 
that  melts  into  light,  and  leaves  no  trace ;  can  he  bear  the 
thought?  No!  The  supposition  of  imperishableness  is 
always  with  him.  Else  there  would  hang  always  before  his 
soul,  as  before  Mahomet's,  in  the  fairest  sky,  a  black  cloud  ; 
and  as  Cain  upon  the  earth,  an  eternal  fear  would  pursue 
him  ! 

I  continued  —  but  all  argument  was  now  changed  to 
feeling ;  "  yes,  if  all  the  woods  upon  this  earth  were  groves 
of  pleasure;  if  all  the  valleys  were  Kampaner  valleys;  if 
all  the  islands  were  blessed,  and  all  the  fields  Elysian ;  if 
all  eyes  were  cheerful,  and  all  hearts  joyful  —  yes,  then  — 
no  I  even  then,  had  God,  through  this  very  blessedness, 
made  to  our  spirits  the  'promise,  the  oath  of  eternal  dura- 
tion !  But  now,  oh  God  !  when  so  many  houses  are  houses 
of  mourning,  so  many  fields  battle  fields,  so  many  cheeks 
are  pale ;  when  we  pass  before  so  many  eyes,  red  with 
weeping,  or  closed  in  death ;  Oh!  can  the  grave,  that  haven 
of  salvation,  be  the  last  swallowing,  unyielding  whirlpool? 
No,  the  trampled  worm  dares  raise  itself  towards  its  Crea- 
tor, and  say,  "  Thou  durst  not  create  me  to  suffer  alone  ! " 


344  APPENDIX. 

"  And  who  gives  the  worm  the  right  to  make  this  de- 
mand ?  ^'  asked  Carlson. 

Gione  answered  softly,  "The  All  Good  himself,  who  has 
given  us  compassion,  that  speaks  aloud  in  us  for  all;  and 
which  alone  would  give  us  a  hope,  a  claim  upon  him  !  " 

This  gentle  and  beautiful  word,  could  not  immediately 
calm  me.  About  my  inward  eye,  collected  the  forms  of 
those  whose  hearts  had  been  without  guilt,  as  their  lives 
without  joy  ;  who  had  not  attained  one  wish  of  their  inno- 
cent souls,  and  were  now  lying  under  the  snow  of  the 
past;  for  they  had  been  like  men,  who,  in  freezing,  try  to 
sleep.  And  the  forms  of  those  who  have  loved  too  well, 
and  lost  all^  like  the  beautiful  one  near  me  ;  and  so  many 
others,  who  are  most  surely  martyred  by  destiny,  as  the 
beautiful  flower  Narcissus  is  consecrated  to  the  God  of  Hell ! 
Then  I  remembered  your  true  remark,  "that  you  never 
heard  the  words  sorrow  and  the  fast^  spoken  by  a  woman, 
without  at  the  same  time  heaving  a  sigh  over  the  eternal 
union  of  those  two  words,"  —  for  women,  in  the  narrower 
theatre  of  their  plans,  and  with  their  ideal  wishes,  build 
more  than  we  do  upon  the  worth  of  others;  and  have  to 
suffer  for  more  failures  than  their  own. 

The  sua  sank  deeper  behind  the  mountains,  and  the 
giant  shadows  rose  like  birds  of  night  out  of  their  eternal 
snows;  I  took  the  hand  of  Carlson,  and  looking  in  his 
beautiful,  manly  face,  I  said,  "Ah,  Carlson,  upon  what  a 
blooming  world  do  you  throw  your  immeasurable  grave- 
stone, that  no  time  can  lift.  Your  tivo  difficulties,  which 
are  founded  upon  the  necessary  uncertainties  of  men,  if 
solved,  would  only  have  the  effect  to  destroy  our  faith  ; 
which  is  the  solution  of  a  thousand  other  difficulties;  with- 
out which  our  existence  is  without  aim,  our  pains  without 
solution,  and  the  Godlike  trinity  in  our  breast,  three  aveng- 
ing spirits.  From  the  formless  earthworm,  up  to  the  beam- 
ing human  countenance ;  from  the  chaos  of  the  first  day, 


APPENDIX.  345 

up  to  the  present  age  of  the  world  ;  from  the  first  faint 
motion  of  the  heart,  to  its  full,  bold  throbbinsr  in  the  breast 
of  manhood,  the  invisible  hand  of  God  leads,  protects,  and 
nourishes  the  inward  being;  the  nursling  of  the  outward; 
educates  and  polishes,  and  makes  it  beautiful  —  and  where- 
fore ?  That  when  it  stands  as  a  demi-god  in  the  midst  of 
the  ruins  of  the  temple  of  the  body,  upright  and  elevated; 
the  blow  of  death  may  prostrate  it  forever,  that  nothing  shall 
remain  from  the  corpse-veiled,  the  mourning  and  mantled, 
immeasurable  universe,  but  the  eternally  sowing,  never 
harvesting,  solitary  spirit  of  the  world  !  One  eternity,  look- 
ing despairingly  at  the  other!  and  in  the  whole  spiritual 
universe,  no  end,  no  aim  !  And  all  these  contradictions 
and  riddles,  whereby  not  merely  the  harmony,  but  the 
strings  of  creation  are  tangled,  must  we  take,  merely  on 
account  of  the  two  difficulties,  that  indeed  our  annihilation 
cannot  solve  !  ^  Beloved  Carlson  !  into  this  harmony  of  the 
spheres,  that  is  not  over,  but  ever  around  us,  will  you  bring 
your  shrieking  discord  ?  See,  how  gently  and  touchingly 
the  day  departs,  and  how  holily  the  night  comes  !  Oh,  can 
you  not  believe  that  even  thus  our  spirits  shall  arise  from 
the  dust,  as  you  once  saw  the  full  moon  rise  from  the 
crater  of  Vesuvius?  " 

Carlson  touched  accidentally  the  strings  of  Clone's  lute 
that  he  carried. 

Gione  took  it  with  one  hand,  and  gave  him  the  other, 
while  she  said  in  a  low  tone  —  "Among  us  all,  will  you 
alone  be  tormented  with  this  despairing  faith?  You,  who 
deserve  one  so  beautiful  ?  " 

Her  words  touched  the  buried  love  of  his  long-closed 
heart,  and  two  hot  drops  fell  from  his  blinded  eyes.  He 
looked  at  the  mountains,  and  said,  "  I  can  bear  no  annihi- 
lation but  my  own  !  My  heart  is  of  your  opinion;  my  head 
will  slowly  follow." 

^  Carlson's  tico  difficulties  were  the  uncertainty  of  our  union 
with  the  body,  and  of  our  union  witli  friends  in  a  future  world. 


346  APPENDIX. 

The  party  now  drew  near  the  castle,  the  future  home  of 
Gione,  which  was  already  illuminated,  and  filled  with  mu- 
sic to  receive  its  mistress;  and  the  book  closes  with  the 
celebration  of  her  nuptials.^ 

Jean  Paul  called  the  Campaner  Thai  the  living  work  of 
youth.  In  it,  the  proofs  of  immortality  are  drawn  more 
from  feeling  than  from  philosophical  investigation.  In  the 
Selina,  which  was  begun  on  the  burial  day  of  his  son  Max, 
he  intended  it  should  be  otherwise.  The  same  party  are 
introduced,  with  the  changes  that  would  naturally  take 
place  in  thirty  years.  Gione,  the  beloved  of  Carlson,  is 
dead,  but  in  her  daughter  Selina  she  has  left  a  full  echo  of 
her  heart,  and  a  bright  reflection  of  her  form.  Her  voice 
also  resembles  her  mother's,  and  she  enhances  the  likeness 
by  always  wearing  her  mother's  favorite  colors. 

Upon  Carlson,  who  had  borne  his  love-veiled  heart  into 
many  lands,  time  had  left  few  marks.  From  the  melan- 
choly shadows  that  hovered  over  his  noble  countenance, 
and  the  traces  of  pain  about  the  firmly-closed  mouth,  it 
was  diflficult  to  determine  whether  his  sorrow  had  been 
recent,  or  remote. 

Carlson  had  at  length  married  a  lady  of  the  court  of 
Albano  and  Idoine,  and  was  the  father  of  two  sons.  He 
had  become  a  firm  believer  in  a  future  life;  but  his  eldest 
son,  Alexander,  professed  his  father's  ancient  faith  in  anni- 
hilation;  and  on  Jean  Paul's  visit,  with  which  the  book 
commences,  this  faith  is  combated  with  philosophical  argu- 
ments and  poetical  illustrations  of  the  most  beautiful  order. 

Paul  says,  among  other  beautiful  things,  that  "  our  inves- 
tigations of  our  immortality,  are  too  often  held  in  a  time 
of  sorrow  and  mourning,  when  we  seize  the  proofs  from 
spiritual  necessity,  and  therefore  they  are  not  transparent. 

'  This  short  extract  will  give  the  reader  but  an  imperfect  idea 
of  the  work. 


APPENDIX.  347 

The  graves  of  others  are  like  icy  mountains,  that  travellers 
visit  with  veils  upon  their  faces. 

"  My  principal  exertion  in  Selina  has  been,  to  gain  a 
height,  vi^here  the  prospect  may  be  open  on  every  side, 
where  the  glance  may  be  freely  thrown  into  the  grave,  into 
earth  and  heaven.  Endeavor  to  free  the  mind  from  sys- 
tems, and  early  prejudices,  and  then  look  boldly  around. 
Do  you  find  no  consolation  near,  rise  and  seek  it  higher; 
like  the  bird  of  paradise,  who,  when  his  feathers  are  ruffled 
by  storms,  rises  higher,  where  none  exist." 

Speaking  of  the  church,  he  says:  "To  the  crucifixion 
and  girdle  of  thorns,  they  should  add  hopes  and  joys ;  or 
flowers,  as  w^ell  as  herbs.  In  the  vineyard  of  the  Lord 
they  grow  herbs  and  emetic  wine;  but  the  little  Hamburg 
piece  of  land,  and  the  little  church  flower  plot  is  wanting, 
as  cheerfulness  is  wanting  in  religion." 


IV. 


The  friendship  between  Otto  and  Jean  Paul  was  one  of 
the  most  beautiful  that  literary  history  has  made  known  to 
us.  But  the  frequent  outbreaking  jealousy  of  Otto,  at  what 
he  imagined  approaching  coldness  in  Paul,  was  the  occa- 
sion of  many  letters  that  disclose  the  generous  and  forbear- 
ing spirit  of  his  friend.  As  these  letters  would  have  taken 
too  much  room  for  the  body  of  the  work,  I  have  placed 
some  extracts  from  them  in  the  Appendix.  Otto's  were 
written  immediately  after  Paul  finally  left  Hof,  to  accom- 
pany his  brother  to  Leipzig. 

"  You  have  appeared  to  me,  my  Richter,  in  these  latter 
times,  to  be  no  longer  the  same.  Inspired  by  fame,  you 
only  now  and  then  returned  to  yourself  and  to  me  ;  when 
in  a  moment  of  emotion,  your  countenance  itself,  (but  proba- 
bly under  the  thought  of  separation,)  painfully  declared  it. 


348 


APPENDIX. 


Your  short  letters,  if  you  were  necessarily  absent,  wounded 
me  ;  and  when  in  the  evening  you  came,  our  conversation 
was  constrained  and  one-syllabled.  I  missed  everywhere 
the  accustomed  warmth,  and  our  former  life  :  we  had  be- 
come strangers  to  each  other.  Thus  we  lived  near  each 
other,  in  different  houses,  and  nothing  but  the  near  neigh- 
borhood seemed  to  bring  us  together.  I  felt  as  if  I  must 
withdraw  in  some  degree  of  self-dependence,  within  my- 
self, and  not  advance  too  submissively ;  thus  I  endeavored 
to  harden  myself  in  your  absence,  but  never  in  your  pre- 
sence. I  consented  that  you  should  live  with  others,  but  a 
secondary  sympathy  through  narration  I  could  not  give  up. 
I  said,  as  I  withdrew  into  myself,  man  can  have  nothing 
nearer  than  himself;  he  must,  let  him  be  what  he  will, 
have  a  reliance  upon  himself;  he  must  be  self-grounded. 
If  he  would  be  self-consistent  he  must  advance  and  rise  by 
himself.  The  judgment  that  he  must  pass  upon  himself, 
can  be  formed  through  no  foreign  help;  he  must  therefore 
depend  solely  upon  himself. 

"Rank  and  station  appeared  to  exert  an  increasing  in- 
fluence upon  you,  and  you  appeared  to  give  into  the  pre- 
tension  to  both  that  distinguished  and  accomplished  talent 
establishes.  You  believed,  that  you  penetrated  all  things, 
(but  sometimes  you  yield  to  first  impressions  that  you 
rarely  contradict  with  the  second,)  and,  as  you  did  not  betray 
yourself  you  thought  I  should  not  perceive  your  feelings; 
but  I  knew  quickly  all  that  you  felt,  for  all  that  interests  so 
deeply,  makes  us  penetrating  and  sharp-sighted.  ^  .  .  . 

"When  I  wrote  the  above,  I  said  to  myself — yes,  we 
are  forever  divided  —  but  you  will  never  find  a  man,  a  friend 
who  will  love  and  understand  you  better  —  Ah!  there  is 
much  passed,  that  will  never  return.  The  most  precious 
bloom  and  consciousness  of  beauty  in  every  thing,  in  every 

'  There  are  many  more  charofes,  too  long  to  be  inserted. 
Paul's  answer  makes  them  apparent. 


APPENDIX.  349 

being,  when  once  past,  never —  never  returns  —  all  dispo- 
sition, every  effort,  every  exertion  to  recall  it  helps  nothing 
—  but  to  make  the  loss  more  deeply  felt.  In  vain  we 
stretch  out  our  hands,  nothing  returns  but  the  longing  and 
the  shadow,  that  vanishes  when  we  would  hold  it. 

*'  At  that  time,  long  passed,  when  sleeping  together,  we 
never  thought  of  speaking  ;  we  thought  not  of  entertaining 
each  other.  I  neither  saw,  nor  feared,  nor  thought,  nor 
felt,  that  you  could  descend  to  me  !  Ah,  then  it  was  other 
and  better  than  now  !  Now  I  sit  alone,  and  think  of  those 
lost  times  of  freedom  and  equality.  But  since  1  have  been 
compelled  to  understand  that  our  roses  are  withered,  I  have 
gained  self-reliance,  that  came  not  indeed  from  reason,  but 
from  necessity ;  and  I  am  obliged  to  acknowledge  that  I 
am  reduced  to  myself. 

*' In  that  early  time,  when  you  found  me  in  the  upper 
apartment ;  when  we  were  pressed  to  impart  to  each  other ; 
and  if  we  were  silent  it  was  not  oppressive,  and  we  parted 
again,  strengthened  and  joyful.  Formerly,  you  enjoyed 
for  me  as  for  yourself;  now,  for  yourself  alone.  Formerly, 
the  fleeting  and  changing  joys  of  the  moment  were  pro- 
longed, and  received  a  greater  value  from  the  thought  of 
repeating  and  enjoying  them  again  with  me.  Think  not 
that  I  do  not  miss  this  communion.  That  I  have  not  re- 
minded you  of  it,  was  because  I  would  only  receive  the 
gift  with  the  double  value,  that  generosity  makes  itself 
doubly  happy,  when  it  imparts  to  another.  Formerly,  you 
were  more  lenient  towards  every  one  —  you  esteemed  what 
every  one  gave,  according  to  his  good  will,  and  not  after 
the  measure  of  his  mental  riches  —  now  you  demand  be- 
side the  gift,  that  the  giver  should  be  rich.  Now  you  take 
consciously,  what  you  formerly  received  unconsciously. 

"By  degrees  your  letters  became  colder,  hastier,  more 
selfish  —  self-sustained,  measured,  prudent,  passing  more 
ceremoniously  over  the  present,  and  anticipating  the  future 


350  APPENDIX. 

with  no  animating  hope  —  and  in  your  letters,  the  cold  you 
would  more  frequently  come,  if  you  did  not  reluctantly 
recollect  yourself,  than  the  intimate  and  precious  thou  (du.) 

"I  am  not  susceptible  I  you  do  not  yet  wholly  under- 
stand me;  and  my  worst  and  best  sides,  not  justly. 

"If you  should  return  again  you  could  not  alter.  The 
past  will  never  return  !  The  tender,  once  blooming,  but 
not  perennial  past,  never,  never  !  There  is  a  self-confi- 
dence, a  repose  in  oneself  that  sufiers  every  man  to  be 
what  he  can  be  ;  and  to  mine  belongs  this  faith  in,  this 
clear  perception  of  an  unchangeable  destiny.  I  know  too 
well  that  it  depended  most  upon  me ;  but  yet,  somewhat 
upon  you.  I  have  never,  never  believed  you  inconstant, 
and  never  will.  Say,  always,  that  I  do  you  injustice  ;  say, 
that  I  misunderstand  you  ;  but  yet  I  cannot  conceal  from 
you  that  I  believe,  you  have  not  yet  left  all  the  errors  of 
your  life  behind  you  ;  that  it  seems  to  me  as  if  you  stood 
very  near  the  last ;  and  that  it  is  my  fervent  wish  and 
hope,  if  you  conquer  it,  or  can  ever  conquer  it,  that  we 
should  again  approach  each  other. 

"  Be  not  angry  on  account  of  what  I  have  written ;  or  if 
you  are,  and  must  be  —  tell  me  so  at  least  —  be  not  silent 
—  this  time,  not  silent.  In  future,  as  often,  and  as  long  as 
you  will.  But  if  you  are  silent  —  if  you  can  be  angry  with 
me,  yet  I  will  love  you  as  formerly,  as  now,  unalterably,  as 
none  other !  eternally  !  eternally  I 

"Thine!  Otto." 

Richter  answered  immediately,  and  would  not  by  a  sin- 
gle day's  delay,  allow  Otto  to  think  he  was  wounded. 

"Dear  Otto:  Your  letter  gave  me,  occasionally,  little 
shudders ;  but  it  is  well  that  you  should  lay  before  me  the 
whole  web  of  your  errors,  that  I  may  unravel  them.  May 
you  never,  in  future,  weave  a  single  thread  that  shall  cut 
into   vour   heart.     How  have   vou  misunderstood  me,  but 


APPENDIX.  351 

always  from  love  !  and  all  that  gives  me  pain  in  your 
letter,  is  your  sorrow. 

"  I  will  now  go  through  with  all  the  objections  against 
me  in  your  letter,  either  to  acknowledge  or  remove  them  — 
this  is  the  only  way  to  relieve  the  oppressive  fulness  of  my 
heart. 

"'R.  appears  to  me  so  absorbed  by  fame  as  not  to 
remain  wholly  himself.'  I  have  often  thought  that  to  many 
I  should  appear  thus,  and  that  they  would  thus  represent 
me.  But  I  assure  you,  my  Otto,  my  inward  being  cannot, 
by  all  the  laurels  in  the  world,  be  raised  one  inch  higher 
than  it  was  before  the  publication  of  the  '  Mummy,''  ^  I 
have  a  humility  within  me  that  no  man  can  guess,  and, 
that  is  not  a  victory  over,  but  a  necessity  of  my  nature  ; 
as  I  alone  know  how  to  separate  my  industry,  my  added 
growth  of  years,  from  my  natural  powers.     Towards  the 

R s,  towards  Renata,  towards  your  family,  I  am  as  I 

have  always  been  ;  but  when  the  mercantile,  despising, 
money-loving,  egotistical  Hofers  came,  then,  not  my  in- 
tellectual nature,  that  the  public  alone  have  praised  too 
much,  but  my  moral  nature  arose,  and  compared  the 
Hofers  with  strangers  ;  and  I  could  not  forget  how  they  for- 
merly, and  indeed  always  have  treated  me,  and  how  they 
despised  and  deserted  my  poor  mother,  in  her  poverty. 
Remember  that  the  contempt,  (a  contempt  that  I  felt  much 
more  strongly  in  my  poverty,)  was  only  expressed  against 

arrogance,  at  least  against  the  H s  never,  never  against 

ihee  or  thine  ! 

"  Evenings  when  we  met,  we  sought  painfully  for  con- 
versation ;  he  appeared  to  let  himself  down  to  me;  sought 
to  talk  politics,  to  speak  of  the  peace,  etc. 

"  This  suspicion  had  been  fearful  to  me  if  I  had  guessed 

•  The  Mummy  was  another  name  for  Siehenkas,  or  Fruit-Flower 
and  Thorn  pieces. 


352  APPENDIX. 

it,  and  I  should  have  been  altogetlier  silent,  or  remained 
away.  But  with  you,  my  Otto,  I  felt  always  that  fantasy- 
ing  freedom  to  speak  either  about  everything  or  nothing. 
I  cannot  tell  you  how  happy  I  went  from  you,  because  I 
had  been  excused  the  trouble  and  ennui  of  seeking  after 
conversation.  Me,  poor  innocent,  how  pitiful  my  quiet 
satisfaction  now  appears  to  me  !  I  asked  about  the  peace, 
•because  the  newspapers  torment  me,  and  I  read  them  very 
unwillingly,  and  your  opinion  was  more  valuable  to  me 
than  my  own;  and  the  idolatry  in  these  for  the,  to  me, 
scarcely  human  French,  permitted  me  no  questions.  Poli- 
tics, or  history  always  turned  a  new  side  towards  us, 
and  was  more  prolific  than  any  other  subject.  Then  our 
Schwarzenbach  conversation  had  the  double  charm  of  ex- 
changing mutually  our  novelties,  from  the  eight  days'  sepa- 
ration. Your  judgment  upon  politics,  and  not  my  own, 
was  the  only  one  that  I  had  faiih  in.  I  never  thought  that 
friendship  need  entertain,  or  that  silence  was  a  sign  that  the 
heart  v/as  cold. 

"  Of  the  '  letting  down,'  had  my  heart,  as  my  understand- 
ing, no  sense  —  never  a  thought.  Ah  I  how  can  I  repre- 
sent to  myself  such  an  idea?  Yes,  our  personal  separation 
was  indeed  a  happiness  if  such  a  monstrous,  infinitely  pain- 
ful suspicion  was  to  continue  to  gain  strength.  Or,  if  not 
the  separation,  a  letter,  such  as  you  have  written. 

"  *  Concealing  my  departure.'  This  you  do  not  under- 
stand. I  do  not  know  whether  you  are  acquainted  with 
the  fearfully  destroying  power  of  emotion,  that  the  excite- 
ment of  imagination  leaves.  What  I  see,  and  do  not  think 
about,  I  can  bear;  but  if  the  object  turns  from  the  eye  to 
the  fancy,  which  is  the  key  of  my  heart,  then  the  weakening 
power  of  emotion  is  so  great  that  I  seek  levity  instead  of 
tenderness,  merely  that  I  may  not  think.  I  could  write 
sheets  upon  this  subject.  Formerly  I  loved  the  storms  of 
feeling ;  but  no  longer,  for  they  destroy.  I  ask  for  little  from 


APPENDIX.  353 

the  world  that  I  have  already  tasted ;  less  on  account  of 
the  pain  than  the  physical  consequences.  Emotion  is  never 
wholly  bitter  when  the  love  therein  makes  it  sweet ;  but  I 
would  deny  it,  if  it  injured  others. 

"  The  last  Sunday  I  was  with  you  there  arose  in  me  a 
whole  world  of  tears  as  I  looked  at  you  ;  and  as  I  saw  in 
your  expression  the  same  emotion,  I  could  look  no  longer, 
but  stifled  my  tears  and  left  you  rather. 

*' '  He  believes  that  he  has  discovered  everything.'  I  be- 
lieve it,  never !  As  I  know  that,  on  account  of  my  imagi- 
nation, I  see  nothing  justly  in  the  beginning  ;  and  also  that 
at  first  all  things  —  men,  places,  books,  music,  appear  to 
me  too  good. 

*"He  considers  me  vain.'  I  have  never  found  this  vani- 
ty exercised  towards  me.  /was  satisfied  with  everything 
in  you,  and  thought  you  knew  it.  I  never  think  when  I 
love  any  one,  of  assuring  him  of  my  esteem.  In  the  ecsta- 
cy  of  love,  I  see  noihins:,  I  think  not  of  appearances,  I 
merely  rejoice.  When  I  made  you  guilty  of  vanity,  and 
wrote  you  a  cold  letter,  it  was  when  you  were  at  Bayreuth. 

"  '  Ah,  there  is  much  past  that  will  never  return.'  Every 
stroke  of  the  clock  is  to  nie  the  funeral  bell  of  a  past  emotion, 
but  also  the  baptismal  bell  of  a  new  one.  Ah,  the  twenty 
years'  feeling  ot^ friendship,  the  twenty  years'  delight  of  love 
are  past,  and  will  enjoy  no  earthly  morning;  but  as  old 
stars  go  down,  new  ones  rise.  No  emotion  remains  the 
same,  but  the  new^-born  are  sweeter;  and  the  heart,  if  it  is 
more  unhappy,  is  not  colder  than  of  old.  Upon  this  sub- 
ject I  could  write  a  book.  Nothing  fides  !  The  grov/ing 
plant  throws  off  its  leaves  in  harvest,  but  it  blossoms  again, 
and  at  length  is  a  perfect  tree.  Man  has  many  springs, 
and  no  winter. 

'*'Why  do  I  tell  you  so  little  of  myself.'  Ah,  innocent 
as  a  child  do  I  stand  before  thee.  The  eternal  repetition  of 
my  I  was  hateful  to  me,  as  1  could  only  speak  of  my  works. 

VOL    11.  ii3 


354  APPENDIX. 

Every  clay  ihe  individual  features  became  worse,  and  I  gave 
you,  unwiUinglij,  a  history,  that  as  I  became  more  accus- 
tomed to  it,  appeared  only  a  perpetual  abstract  of  tlie  same 
thing;  and,  further,  I  did  not  think  you  expected  it.  .  . 

"I  have  read  yours,  and  this  letter  again.  Mine  does 
not  satisfy  me.  In  yours  I  find  excellent  remarks,  and  a 
love  that  I  can  never  forget,  although  the  same  {\iults  that 
you  reproach  me  with,  namely,  upon  you  alone  has  my 
new  relation  with  the  public  produced  a  change.  .  .  . 

"I  never  mingle  you  with  others;  my  feeling  for  you 
is  unique,  and  belongs  to  no  other  human  being.  Often 
when  I  hear  music,  and  long  for  my  Hofer  friends,  you 
alone  come  before  my  heart ;  and  it  is  always,  as  it  was 
lately,  in  a  dream,  when  Renata  appeared  grown  old,  and 
your  younger  brother  led  Albretch  with  swollen  lips  !  At 
last  you  came  ;  and  for  joy  loudly  weeping,  I  fell  upon  your 
neck,  and  awoke  ! 

"  Only  when  I  need  to,  shall  I  write.  Ah,  that  is  alw^ays. 
But  I  have  no  time;  and  when  the  need  is  strongest,  I  had 
rather  not  write,  but  phantasie  on  the  piano  ;  thai,  gently 
quiets  the  longing  that  writing  increases.  Ah,  every  year 
my  love  for  you  increases,  becomes  purer  and  nobler,  spite 
of  the  faults  that  I  discover  in  you.  I  would  that  it  were 
the  same  with  you  !  When  in  the  spring  I  again  find  my- 
self in  the  blooming  circle  of  your  love,  and  the  old,  dis- 
turbing relations  have  passed  into  pure  benevolence,  then 
we  shall  find  no  firmer  love  and  joy,  but  a  higher,  a  greater, 
a  more  heavenly  —  and  I  willingly  give  the  past  for  the 
future. 

"  Nevertheless,  you  only  are  right.  I  fail  often  without 
knowing  it.  There  are  also  other  reasons  why  you  misun- 
derstand me.  I  have  more  faults  than  you  know.  Until 
now  I  have  only  given  negative  answers  ;  to  the  positive 
belong  a  book.     How  strange  it  has  been  the  last  year 


APPENDIX.  355 

with  my  inward  being,  no  one  can  guess.  Enough.  I 
give  you  again  my  hand,  and  say,  forgive  we,  for  I  have 
nothing  to  forgive !  Forget  your  p^in,  and  stand  by  me 
eternally  —  as  I  by  you  !  R." 


V. 


Jean  Paul  kept  a  record  of  the  remarks  of  his  children, 
when  they  were  quite  young.     I  select  a  few. 

Odilia,  three  years  old.  After  speaking  of  God,  said  : 
Ah,  dear  God !  I  prayed,  make  my  mother  sleep  well. 

When  they  asked  how  God  looked  ?  I  answered  :  More 
beautiful  than  the  sun;  than  the  starry  night;  than  any 
dress,  —  that  they  might  get  an  idea  of  the  Infinite,  without 
corporeal  existence. 

Odilia.  I  will  be  a  thousand  times  good  to  thee!  I  will 
be  a  hundred  gulden  good  to  thee! 

Emma,  five  years  old.  I  love  thee  so  well  —  so  well  as  a 
great  piece.  I  love  thee  as  good  as  thou  art;  I  cannot  love 
thee  more ! 

I  told  them  my  father  had  punished  me  because  I  drew  a 
key  from  the  door.  What  would  you  do,  if  your  children 
were  to  do  so  ? 

Max.     I  would  throw  them  out  of  the  window. 

1  will,  then,  throw  thee  out,  1  said. 

Max.     No.     For  then  I  could  not  throw  mine  out. 

Mother  to  Max.     Why  did  you  not  work  this  morning  ? 

Max,  five  years  old.  Why  did  you  not  tell  me  to  work 
this  morning  instead  of  now  ? 

I  said  :  Your  father  and  mother  work  without  any  one 
commanding  them  to  work. 

Max.     But  the  dear  God  commands  you  to  work. 

Max  said,  angrily,  he  would  not  bring  in  the  cofiiee.  I 
repeated  the  order,  and  he  went;  but  said,  as  from  revenge. 


356  APPENDIX. 

that  I  had  made  him  tell  a  lie ;  for  he  had  said,  he  would 
not  bring  in  the  coffee. 

I  said  :  Now  in  the  spring  the  Christ kindchen  has  no 
presents. 

Max.  The  dear  God  gives  everything  himself,  and  does 
not  need  the  Chris tlcindchen  in  the  spring,  when  everything 
is  so  beautiful. 

Odilia  came  sobbing,  and  threw  herself  on  the  sofa.  "Do 
you  know  the  shoemaker's  little  girl  is  dead?  I  wish  I 
were  myself  dead  !  " 

After  an  hour,  I  said,  if  I  were  to  cut  a  little  place  on 
your  finger  with  my  knife,  and  you  saw  the  blood,  you 
would  not  wish  to  die. 

Odilin.  I  am  not  so  sorry  now  ;  and  as  she  is  at  last 
dead,  we  will  leave  her. 

Max.  The  dear  God  has  made  us,  and  will  kill  us  ! 
What  then  can  help  ? 

Max,  when  asked  to  pray,  said,  "I  will  think  in  the  night 
—  w'ill  not  God  hear  ? 

Somebody  asked,  what  they  would  do  if  father  and 
mother  were  dead  ? 

Max  answered  :  We  would  weep. 

And  what  else  ? 

Max.     We  would  jjo  out  a  little  in  the  street.      &c.  &c. 


Richter  had  a  peculiar  manner  of  clothing  his  requests  in 
a  garb  of  pleasantry  and  humor.  I  translate  only  one,  a 
billet  to  his  brother-in-law.  "Day  before  yesterday  the 
academy  of  sciences  in  Munchen  offered  a  prize  of  two 
ducats  for  the  solution  of  the  prize-questions,  '  What  is  the 
best  dish  in  Bayreuth  ?  '  and  '  What  is  the  best  drink  in  the 
world  ?  '  As  a  member  of  the  academy,  I  answered  the 
question,  '  that  the  best  dish  is  a  ham  cured  by  my  Frau- 
sister,  and  the  best  drink  is  the  beer  that  my  brother  sends 


APPENDIX.  357 

me.'  To-day,  by  the  running  post,  I  expect  to  receive  the 
two  ducnts,  of  which  you  shall  have  three,  dear  brother, 
upon  condition  that  you  send  me  your  splendid  beer,  soon, 
often,  and  for  a  long  while  to  come  I " 


VI. 


One  other  journey  of  Richter's  deserves  a  place,  because 
it  has  been  the  occasion  of  a  very  pleasant  description  of 
the  amusements  of  the  court  of  Kurland,  published  by  Gotta 
in  the  Ladies'  Pocket-book  ;  and  shows,  that  the  cheerful, 
hospitable,  country  life  at  a  German  court,  is  very  much 
like  the  country  life  of  the  wealthy  classes  in  England. 

Jean  Paul  was  rewarded,  in  the  year  1819,  for  the  want 
of  a  sprmo' journey,  by  the  splendid  blue  harvest  weeks  in 
Lobichau,  the  estate  of  the  duchess  of  Kurland,  where,  with 
her  three  daughters  and  her  sister,  the  countess  Eliza  von 
der  Pteck,  and  a  multitude  of  distinguished  visiters,  literary 
men,  artists,  and  beautiful  women,  they  lived  after  the  true 
old  German  custom,  in  princely  hospitality.  I  translate 
from  the  printed  account. 

"If  I  should  now  tell  you,  that  a  quarter  of  a  hundred 
strangers  have  made  the  castle  their  autumn  quarters,  and 
that  sometimes  on  Sundays  thirty-five  guests  sit  down  in 
the  dining  saloon,  you  would  not  wonder  if  I  should  go  on 
to  say,  that  there  are  not  many  examples  of  guests  remain- 
ing only  a  few  days.  Besides  those  from  the  neighboring 
city,  who  can  come  and  go  when  they  please,  there  are 
many,  like  myself,  who  stay  from  the  31st  of  August  to  the 
17lh  of  September.  There  are  others,  w^ith  families,  who 
have  been  here  four,  five,  six  weeks.  But  at  lasf,  dearest, 
I  will  surprise  you  with  the  fact,  for  you  cannot  yet  guess 
the  reason  of  the  union  of  so  many  people  in  one  place, 
so   that  guests  of    every   species    sit,  or    wander  about. 


358  APPENDIX. 

Counts  and  countesses,  barons  and  baronesses,  doctors  of 
medicine  and  doctors  of  theology,  doctors  of  justice  and 
laws,  presidents  and  painters,  sons  of  the  muses,  poets,  all 
with,  or  without  wife  and  children.  For  the  present,  to 
mention  only  the  poets,  there  are  Schink,  Tiedge,  and 
myself.  .  .  . 

"  But,  my  good  reader,  you  would  know,  from  a  true 
hand,  the  duchess  of  Kurland,  and  how  a  princess,  who  can 
summon  together  such  a  wide  circle,  can  hold  them  fast  in 
a  ring  of  enchantment.  Her  name  would  often  be  pro- 
nounced with  delight  in  the  whole  of  Europe,  but  she  loves 
rather  to  bloom  in  the  midst  of  the  surrounding  blossoms  of 
her  daughters  ;  for  whoever  would  look  with  penetration 
behind  the  enchanting  eye,  and  deeper  than  the  beautiful 
face,  where  the  soul,  with  its  peace  and  mildness  and  love, 
dwells,  would  find  the  face  faded  little  by  time,  for  the  in- 
ward keeps  the  outward  young. 

"  But  I  will  describe  the  Lobichau  daily  life  itself,  and 
begin  in  the  morning,  when  all  is  apparently  solitary  and 
calm.  Every  guest  breakfasts  in  his  own  room,  and  merely 
sees  from  his  window,  if  like  myself  he  has  one  upon  the 
balcony,  ladies  wandering  at  that  cool  morning  hour  in  the 
park  ;  or  a  few  chambermaids,  who  are  not  yet  before  the 
hot  fire,  engaged  in  folding  and  plaiting  their  mistresses' 
white  dresses.  Many  gentlemen,  who  belong  to  the  learned 
class,  are  at  work  among  their  papers  ;  but  if  it  is  with  them 
as  with  me,  they  bring  little  to  pass.  A  little  later,  morn- 
ing visits  begin  from  the  gentlemen  to  the  ladies,  such  as 
from  me  to  my  friend  the  Fraulien  von  Ende,  whose  apart- 
ment, with  that  of  her  son,  is  close  to  mine.  The  princesses, 
who  live  in  the  adjoining  palace  of  Tannefeld,  now  receive 
visits  from  young  gentlemen,  or  from  me.  The  Duchess 
Dorothea  sits  in  her  chamber,  and  reads  and  writes. 

"  All  this  goes  on  after  the  early  private  breakfast,  and 
before  the  call  to  the  general  breakfast,  that  takes  place 


APPENDIX.  359 

about  twelve  o'clock.  Many,  among  whon^i  I  place  myself, 
are  of  opinion  that  the  word  breakfast  is  altogether  unjust, 
for  apparently  this  is  what  used  to  be  called,  after  the  good 
old  custom,  although  an  hour  later,  the  German  dinner.  It 
consists  of  a  multitude  of  warm  dishes,  such  as  are  to  be 
served  at  what  used  to  be  called  the  German  supper,  at  six 
o'clock  ;  but  which  is  now,  an  hour  later,  called  our  dinner, 
and  differs  from  the  breakfast,  not  by  the  greater  variety  of 
dishes,  but  by  more  distinguished  splendor  in  the  service, 
which  for  the  stomach,  in  its  reckoning  of  time  has  little 
weight.  Whoever,  from  love  to  the  old  customs,  or  from 
any  other  cause,  prefers  the  old  dining-hour  of  two  or  three 
o'clock,  may  remain  away  without  excuse,  for  all  may 
come  and  go  ;  and  conversation  and  dressing  goes  on,  free 
from  all  court  restraints. 

"  I  consider  the  princess  happy  who  can  wear  a  light 
hat,  free  from  the  heavy  weight  of  a  royal  crown,  for  she 
can  bow  her  head  without  inconvenience  to  the  humblest 
field-flower  of  joy,  or  raise  it  to  the  highest  star  for  devo- 
tion. The  canopy  of  the  throne  is  open  to  the  prince,  and 
leaves  him  some  little  freedom  of  prospect ;  but  the  courtier 
is  often  more  closely  imprisoned  by  the  flowery  chain  of 
favoi\  than  by  the  fetters  of  displeasure.  The  princess  is 
bound,  at  the  same  time,  by  the  hereditary  golden  chain  of 
rank,  the  silken  cord  of  sex,  that  enfolds  her  like  an  orna- 
ment, and  the  iron  ring  of  conventional  custom. 

"  Freedom  descends  here  to  little  things  ;  for  say  what 
you  will,  dearest,  it  is  very  agreeable  to  a  literary  counsel- 
lor like  myself,  if  he  is  about  to  appear  at  court,  and  has  no 
three-cornered  hat,  and  no  shoes,  and  consequently  would 
have  to  borrow  them,  to  be  able  to  appear  as  he  is.  Won- 
derful indeed  is  it,  that  at  court,  where  everything  rounds 
itself  into  a  circle,  the  hat  alone  must  show  its  three-pointed 
corners,  or  that  the  throne  should  be  a  Vesuvius,  which  it  is 
well  known,  can  only  be  ascended  in  shoes.     But  what  is 


360  APPENDIX. 

the  absence  of  extensive  or  minute  forms  of  constraint  to 
the  blessed  power  of  freedom  of  speech?  Fair  reader,  you 
may  sit  at  the  table  at  Labichau,  or  afterwards  upon  the 
sofa,  and  attack  or  defend  any  opinion  you  please.  You 
may  be  for,  or  against  Magnetism,  for,  or  against  the  Jews, 
for,  or  against  Ultras  or  Liberals.  Yes,  you  can,  in  the  last 
circumstance,  if  you  are  a  lady,  raise  your  beautiful  voice 
tlie  loudest /or  liberalism  ;  no  one  will  say  anything  against 
it,  or  at  most,  give  his  reasons.  There  happened  a  polit- 
ical contention,  where  all  fought  together  —  the  learned, 
princesses,  and  the  other  ladies  ;  when  the  always  calm 
and  cheerful  Dorothea  entered  upon  the  theatre  of  the  war. 
Immediately  the  burning  beams  and  opposing  lights,  that 
were  rushing  together,  sank  apart,  and  changed  into  a  mild, 
pure  radiance,  in  which  all  could  see  and  rejoice.  This 
freedom  in  social  conversation,  as  in  social  enjoyment,  is 
now  the  Contract  social  in  Lobichau.  Give  but  freedonri, 
and  both  joy  and  knowledge  will  advance  of  themselves. 
The  tree  of  freedom  supports  the  clusters  of  the  vine  of  joy, 
as  well  as  the  branches  of  the  tree  of  knowledge. 

"  I  remark,  first,  that  we  have  not  yet  risen  from  the 
table  of  the  so-called  breakfast,  where,  if  conversation  suc- 
ceeds, it  may  endure  some  hours.  Afterwards,  every  one 
goes  where  it  may  seem  to  him  good;  into  his  study  or  his 
reading  apartment,  where  he  may  provide  himself  from  the 
select  French  and  German  library  of  the  duchess,  or  into 
the  library  itself;  or,  if  it  be  a  lady,  into  her  dressing-room, 
to  prepare  for  the  evening  dinner ;  or,  as  I  often  do,  into  the 
carriage  with  the  countess  Eliza  von  der  Reck  ^  —  where  I 
see,  in  this  distinguished  woman,  in  her  pious  will,  her  firm 

^  The  countess  Von  der  Reck  was  one  of  the  most  distin- 
guished female  authors  of  Germany,  severely  treated  by  said 
reviews. 


APPENDIX.  361 

faith,  and  warm  love,  a  wholly  different  being,  than  in  the 
journals  of  Biesters  or  Nicholai  ;  or  at  last  I,  and  many 
others  go  to  Tannefeld  to  the  princesses,  who  rarely  all 
appear  at  the  mid-day  breakfast.  All,  in  that  liiile  dwell- 
ing-room is  as  brightly  cheerful  as  if  it,  with  the  chambers 
of  the  heart  therein,  formed  together  a  spring  temple  for 
the  sun.  There  are  Johanne  and  Pauline  and  "Wiliielniine, 
and  sometimes  the  beloved-loving  mother,  with  her  guests 
from  the  hall,  united  in  cheerful  conversation  or  business ; 
as  we  said  above,  it  is  open  to  every  guest. 

"The  evening  dinner,  that  begins  about  seven  o'clock, 
lasts,  after  we  have  risen  from  the  table,  till  twelve  o'clock 
at  night,  and  this  is  the  most  delightful  part  of  the  day.  Jt 
possesses  a  charm  that  fills  and  rejoices  every  heart ;  for 
one  becomes  weary  of  the  harvest  of  joy,  merely,  when  they 
do  not  gather  the  fruit  from  the  tree  itself. 

"About  seven  o'clock  the  writer,  whose  window  opens 
upon  the  balcony  that  leads  to  the  several  apartmenis,  has 
the  satisfaction  of  seeing  the  guests  collect  for  dinner,  and 
he  could  have  thrown  flowers  upon  the  beautiful  heads  of 
the  ladies  as  they  passed  under  his  window.  All  the  inhab- 
itants of  the  Tannefeld  enchanted  castle  appear  at  the 
evening  dinner,  and  remain  to  share  the  evening  joy;  and 
for  a  benevolent  heart  it  is  a  beautiful  spectacle  to  see  with 
what  mutual  joy  mother  and  daughters  meet  after  a  short 
separation ;  and  how  with  them  those  signs  of  tenderness 
which  have  become  vapid  in  the  world,  receive  a  new  dig- 
nity and  warmth  through  their  heartfelt  sincerity. 

"  The  dinner  now  begins  under  the  departing  beams  of 
the  sun.  Upon  the  writer,  the  long  table,  to  which  some- 
times, especially  on  Sundays,  a  supplementary  was  added, 
filled  with  gay  youths,  with  the  dare  obscure  of  twilight, 
which  before  the  artificial  lights  were  brought  in,  excited 
the  gay  society  most  agreeably ;  but  upon  the  writer  (to 
whom  it  always  renewed  the  memory  of  his  childhood's 


362 


APPENDIX. 


years,  where,  in  the  poor  village  of  his  birth,  the  evening 
meal  in  summer  was  taken  in  the  soft  twilight,)  it  made  a 
childlike,  poetical,  enchanting  impression. 

"  What  took  place  after  dinner,  it  would  be  difficult  to 
prophesy.  Sometimes  a  celebrated  violinist,  as  it  happened 
twice,  played  for  us.  Princess  Pauline,  and  her  sister 
Wilhelmine,  could  sing  in  a  masterly  manner  from  Tancred 
or  a  Slabat  mater,  or  the  whole  choir  could  unite  in  the 
German  and  Swiss  national  songs,  or  they  read  aloud,  or 
played  charades,  or  danced,  or  did  all  at  once,  for  each  took 
part  in  all;  or  if  one  wished  to  devote  himself  to  one  alone, 
there  was  no  restraint,  but  perfect  freedom  in  the  choice  of 
joys.  Flowers  of  joy  are  no  artificial  growth,  but  the  sensi- 
tive-plant of  feeling. 

"  But  I  must  excuse  the  absence  of  what  every  less  cheer- 
ful society  possesses,  namely  —  cards.  I  will  not  deny  that 
the  higher  we  rise  the  more  indispensable  they  become, 
and  that  where  a  king  is  present  the  four  card  kings  are 
either  regents  or  vassals,  for  without  the  four  cardinal 
colors,  the  heavenly  chart  of  social  pleasure  cannot  be  illu- 
minated. Also  the  noble  cannot  dispense  with  his  card- 
table,  as  a  free  table  of  gain,  where  the  whole  collection  of 
friends  sit  at  their  tables,  and  pray  mutually,  as  the  people 
in  Blankensea,  by  Altonado  in  the  church,  that  God  would 
shipwreck  the  one,  for  the  advantage  of  the  other.  But 
how  were  mixed  society  held  together,  without  cards  ? 
The  card  is  the  olive  leaf,  or  sticking  plaster,  of  secretly 
angry  people,  who  otherwise  would  wound  each  other  with 
something  sharper  than  trumps.  For  to  men  that  have  no- 
thing to  say,  at  least  to  women,  they  present  cards  out  of 
tenderness,  as  a  passport,  or  a  dispensation  bill  from  con- 
versation, and  thus  they  can  pay  their  debts  of  wit  in  good 
card  paper  during  the  evening.  But  a  quadruple  alliance 
of  the  four  card  kings,  against  ennui  and  peevishness,  was 
not  necessary  in  the  Tetrarchate  of  Lobichau. 


APPENDIX.  363 

"  Every  evening  the  beauhful  world,  or  a  partof  it,  danced 
for  some  hours,  and  the  other  part  sat  and  looked  on.  Fre- 
quently they  chose  hastily  a  charming  princely  dancer,  and 
placed  her  at  the  Vienna  Piano,  where  she  formed,  alone,  a 
complete  orchestra,  till  another  took  her  place. 

"The  twelfth  of  September,  the  harvest  festival,  was  also 
made  a  spiritual  harvest.  A  valuable  altar  service  of  gold 
and  silver  vessels,  with  a  new  altar  cloth,  the  duchess 
Dorothea  had  from  the  first  intended  for  the  harvest  festi- 
val, when  in  the  afternoon  all  the  guests  collected  in  the 
little  friendly  church,  to  hear  the  harvest  sermon.  Besides, 
the  four  princesses  had  not  waited  for  such  an  occasion  to 
visit  the  church  for  the  first  time.  A  warm,  pure  love  of 
religion  ennobled  both  mother  and  daughters.  In  this 
women  difier  from  men  in  the  most  decided  manner,  espe- 
cially in  the  higher  ranks,  which  always  upon  their  jour- 
neys visit  the  churches  to  perform  their  devotions  before 
the  pictures,  pillars  and  colored  glass  of  the  windows,  so 
that  they  often  interrupt  a  full  church  in  their  singing  and 
preaching.  Therefore,  as  in  French  cities  a  bell  is  rung 
before  the  Porte-Dieu,  called  the  Jew's  bell,  to  inform  the 
Jews  of  the  entrance  of  the  crucifix,  and  frighten  them 
away  —  thus  for  travellers  and  connoisseurs,  before  they 
enter  a  church  on  Sundays,  a  bell  should  be  rung,  that  they 
may  not  unawares  disturb  a  whole  church  in  their  devo- 
tion. 

"  In  the  Lobichau  church  there  was  devotion,  pious  joy, 
and  gratitude  to  heaven,  that  had  given  them  the  rich  har- 
vest and  the  benevolent  princess.  This  gratitude  looked 
beautiful  in  so  many  country  faces.  Many  of  the  old  heads 
were  ivorlhy  of  a  painter  — I  had  nearly  written  —  as  if  the 
artist  himself  had  not  been  made  by  the  original  Artist, 
whom  a  Raphael  had  earlier  to  thank  for  his  own  enchant- 
ing face,  than  for  his  painted  faces.  An  hour  after  the  ser- 
vice was  ended,  a  more  joyful  and  beautiful  procession  than 


364  APPENDIX. 

God  usually  receives,  (for  whom,  among  us,  there  are  only 
sorrowful  and  praying  processions,)  brought  the  princess 
the  signs  of  grateful  love  and  joy. 

They  collected  with  music  before  the  castle,  upon  whose 
balcony  the  princess  stood  surrounded  by  her  friends  — 
boys  and  girls,  virgins,  and  youths,  and  old  men,  with 
wreaths  of  flowers  upon  their  instruments  of  agriculture, 
and  cried  aloud  their  love  and  joy.  The  duchess  threw 
them  not  merely  glances,  but  words  of  her  own  gratitude 
and  joy,  which,  for  true  men  like  them,  were  more  accept- 
able than  presents  of  money,  stamped  with  the  crown. 

"  The  young  men  looked  up  delighted,  forgot  the  gift  in 
the  giver;  and  looked  their  thanks  for  a  second.  Some  of 
the  ancients  brought  their  speeches,  and  a  printed  poem, 
with  freer  bearing,  than  alas,  the  learned  of  middle  rank 
can  usually  command.  They  received  from  the  duchess, 
v/ith  grateful  modesty,  the  offer  of  a  free  ball  at  the  Werih- 
haus,  but  declined  it,  as  they  would  rather,  themselves, 
pay  the  last  joy  of  their  harvest  festival. 

"  I  here  add  my  harvest  sermon,  as  a  thanksgiving  to  my 
hostess,  composed  in  the  chapel  of  my  sleeping  chamber, 
on  the  fifteenth  of  September,  in  a  dream. 

"'My  devout  hearers,  from  Kurland  and  Germany.'  — 
So  far  the  beginning  of  the  sermon  — for,  alas,  in  awaking 
I  had  completely  forgotten  the  introduction,  and  the  thirty- 
two  parts  into  which  the  sermon  was  divided;  only  the 
application,  or  the  usus  epanortliolicus  remained  with  me, 
and  sounded  thus  :  '  I  have,  then,  dearest  flock,  in  the 
thirty-two  parts  of  my  sermon,  shown  for  what  harvest  of 
sheaves,  and  clusters  of  joy  we  have  to  thank  our  revered 
Dorothea,  that  we  have  enjoyed  the  highest  freedom  from 
all  the  bandages  of  court  restraint,  for  the  bonds  of  love,  in 
reason  of  their  lightness,  are  counted  for  nothing;  our 
fetters  have  been  only  formed  of  flowers;  not  in  \\\e  sweat  o{ 
our  faces,  but  in  the  smiles  of  the  same  have  we  all  gathered 


APPENDIX.  365 

our  joysheaves,  from  hence  to  Tannefeld;  and  the  preacher 
himself  returns  to  Bayreuth,  overpacked,  with  the  most 
respectable  tythes. 

"  '  Beloved  children  of  my  flock,  whether  in  Lobichau  or 
Tannefeld,  consider  the  happy  neighborhood  of  the  mother 
church  to  the  filial  church,  yet  more  attentively,  whereof 
iu  the  twenty-fifth  division  of  my  discourse,  I  have  already 
hinted.  In  heaven,  as  astronomy  teaches  us,  the  suns  are 
so  far  apart,  that  they  do  not  disturb  the  attraction  of  each 
other's  planets;  but,  on  the  contrary,  in  Lobichau  and 
Tannefeld,  the  neighborhood  of  the  different  suns  increases 
the  attraction  of  the  revolving  comets;  and  the  worshippers 
of  the  four  stars  of  beauty  maintain,  after  present  astrono- 
mers, that  they  consist  of  Dorothea,  Johanne,  Pauline  and 
Wilhelmine.  .  .  .'" 

Only  one  more  of  Paul's  thoughts,  in  his  chapel  at  Lobi- 
chau. "The  more  tenderly  and  warmly  one  loves,  so 
much  more  does  he  discover  in  himself  defects  rather  than 
charms,  that  render  him  not  worthy  of  the  beloved.  Thus 
are  our  little  faults  first  made  known  to  us,  when  we  have 
ascended  the  higher  steps  of  religion.  The  more  we  satisfy 
the  demands  of  conscience,  the  stronger  they  become. 
Love  and  religion  are  here  like  the  sun.  By  mere  daylight 
and  torchlight,  the  air  of  the  apartment  is  pure  and  undis- 
turbed by  a  single  particle,  but  let  in  a  sunbeam,  and  how 
nmch  dust  and  motes  are  hovering  about." 

I  have  given  these  long  extracts,  as  a  fair  specimen  of 
Jean  Paul's  most  familiar  and  trifling  manner  of  writing. 


THE    END. 


OCT       2    ^"'fl  ^^%J^ 


